


"Until Dawn"

by brunettachoppa687, TTICSY (phantomofthefandoms)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Explicit Sexual Content, Graphic Description of Corpses, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 18:15:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 40,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5258756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunettachoppa687/pseuds/brunettachoppa687, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomofthefandoms/pseuds/TTICSY
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Wind whispered secrets through the cattails and the fluttering ribbons of willow branches, carrying the black smell of the nearby marsh up to the front of the plantation owned by Mr. Vladimir Masters.  It was an old-looking house.  An ancient stone wall circled the miles of grounds, cracked in places and crawling with vines… but the lawn was manicured to perfection and the house was like something out of a southern tourist catalog, with its flawless white finish, crown molding, and two floors with a balcony overlooking the rose gardens.  Willow trees taller than the house bowed over the lawn like crones in their old age, branches trailing like a grandmother’s fingers.  Soft and lingering, but smelling like death.</p><p>And the stars were beautiful… on the night it all came to an end."</p><p>A Danny Phantom/Until Dawn au</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This story is VERY graphic. Much like the game "Until Dawn", there is lots of violence, gore, death, and a lot of disturbing imagery along with some sexual content. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

The stars were beautiful on the night that it all came to an end. **  
**

Jasmine Fenton leaned against the windowsill, watching the sky with a wistful expression, her long copper hair fluttering in the bitter wind off the willows.  A young woman of eighteen, she was pretty for her age, but not yet filling in the grown-up skirts, makeup, and button-downs that she had adored on botique-store hangers since she was ten.  She had always prided herself on her maturity, her inability to be fooled or lied to.  She liked to think no one would want to lie to her, since she tried to be an easy person to talk to…

She sighed, hugging herself as the chilly wind brushed its fingers over her again.  Well, that was another story.

“Hey, Jazz!”

Jasmine turned, her blue eyes smiling patiently at Tucker Foley – another kid at this adult party.  “Hey.  I’ll be down in a second.”

“Okay, well, don’t shoot the messenger!  Your parents were asking where you were, so—Yo, you okay?”

Jazz glanced out over the grounds of the old Masters plantation, hesitated… then nodded.  “Yeah…” she murmured quietly, unconsciously searching the blackness.  “Just peachy.”

She turned her back on the night and went inside.

Wind whispered secrets through the cattails and the fluttering ribbons of willow branches, carrying the black smell of the nearby marsh up to the front of the plantation owned by Mr. Vladimir Masters.  It was an old-looking house.  An ancient stone wall circled the miles of grounds, cracked in places and crawling with vines… but the lawn was manicured to perfection and the house was like something out of a southern tourist catalog, with its flawless white finish, crown molding, and two floors with a balcony overlooking the rose gardens.  Willow trees taller than the house bowed over the lawn like crones in their old age, branches trailing like a grandmother’s fingers.  Soft and lingering, but smelling like death.

And the stars were beautiful… on the night it all came to an end.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Warm electric lighting welcomed Jazz as she descended one half of the double staircase, lingering just behind Tucker.  

The babble of the adults echoed against the classy molded ceiling, bouncing from clean mahogany floors and through the French doors of the dining room; Jazz and Tucker entered and sat down with their respective parents, who were currently so busy chatting, laughing, and eating finger foods that Jazz had a hard time thinking Tucker had come to fetch her because they asked.  Most likely Valerie and Samantha just wouldn’t talk to him.

She glanced up the table at the party of strangers.  All the parents – and the host – knew each other from their college days, but had very different careers.

The Foleys.  A traditional family of three, a father who worked the nine to five and a homemaker mom.  Tucker was a bit of a technophile, or so she gathered by the way he chattered about terabytes and the new iPhone 10 or whatever.

The Grays.  A single dad, working as a police officer, and his daughter Valerie, who seemed to be relatively well-rounded.  They ignored each other at the table, but it was a trusting, warm silence.  A relationship built on trust, Jazz deduced.

The Mansons were a different case.  They were a nuclear family from new money – approaching the billionaire status but not quite there yet – with two overly happy and chatty parents, and one extremely dour daughter, Sam, dressed in all black with a spiderweb shawl.  Jazz practically itched to get Samantha to talk about her feelings, from the angry tension in the air between her and her parents, but she was challenged to hold Sam’s eyes for a second, let alone talk with her.  Sam and Tucker seemed to know each other, though.  Maybe she could get Tucker to talk to her for her…

“So!  Vlad, how in the WORLD did you end up getting this place~?”

Jazz blinked in surprise, then turned around, brows raised, to see her mother leaning slightly forward, lashes lowered alluringly.  “It’s so nice!” Maddie Fenton smiled at their host.  “Very homey~”

“Hey, honey, you really gotta try these pigs-in-blankets, they’re SO GOOD!” Jack Fenton enthused, spraying bits of sausage and pastry over the table.  

Maddie wrinkled her nose slightly in distaste.  “Jack, that’s disgusting.  Not now,” she said.

The woman waved him off, and turned back to their host, smile back on her dark red lips.  Jack wilted a little bit, swallowed his mouthful, and sunk down in his seat.  He didn’t take any more of the h’orderves.

Jazz rolled her eyes, put a cheek in her hand, and drummed her fingers on the table.  Of course, the Fentons.  Dysfunctional family of three.  While her parents were both inventors, her dad was pretty much dead weight on their finances and both Maddie and Jazz knew it.  They could barely share a lab, let alone a bedroom; in fact, Jazz noticed her father had been sleeping in the guest room almost constantly this past week.  Yelling rarely happened, surprisingly, only when Maddie was REALLY angry.  Most of the time she just… ignored Jack.  For Jazz, that was almost worse than them constantly fighting.  

Yet another reason why she couldn’t wait to graduate, take that full ride to Stanford half a country away, and never have to step foot in that house again except for the holidays.

Jazz sighed, eyes wandering back down the table, deciding to take another eyeful of their host.  

The one and only Vladimir Masters.

Billionaire philanthropist, businessman, and winner of the Bachelor of the Year award for six years running, Vlad had attended the same college as the rest of them, but obviously he had went on to bigger and better things, amassing tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars after the course of his career.  He was a looker, too, incredibly muscular for a man in his forties – with long silver hair that he kept tied back – and a chiseled, handsome face, with the kind of slanted, cobalt blue eyes you only saw photoshopped onto people in magazines.  Right now, those eyes were twinkling with mirth as Maddie talked to him, her lips forming sweetly around his name…

Oh god.

Jazz blinked in realization.  Crap.  Her mother was flirting with Vlad.

She glanced warily up at Jack, but he was still pouting and didn’t seem to notice.  Big shocker there, he rarely noticed anything– ACK, what was she doing?!  

“Hey.”

Jazz startled, turning to her other side to find Valerie watching her with a raised brow.  The curvy, dark skinned girl was dressed in an orange sweater and red skirt, a comfortable costume in homage to the old Scooby Doo cartoons.  Dark eyes flicked up at the chatting adults, before zeroing in once more on Jazz.

“You’re Jasmine, right?  Heard from your dad that you got accepted into Stanford early.  You must be pretty excited by that.”

Both girls knew that Val didn’t really care about Stanford.  No, she was just an observant stranger, offering to be a distraction in a clearly uncomfortable situation.

“What do you plan to major in?”

“Oh… psychology.”

Jazz propped her head in her hands, glancing over at the younger girl.  “How about you?  You got any plans for college?”

“Plan to double major in forensics and criminology.  Gonna become a cop like my old man.”

Val’s smile was proud and cocky, but Jazz caught the look the girl’s dad sent her over his glass of sparkling cider.  Concern, exasperation, annoyance… and pride.  Seemed Mr. Gray wasn’t completely on board with his daughter’s career choices, but he also respected them.  She did seem like the strong, hard working type, if stubborn.  “I want to go to Boston, maybe New York, but we’ll see.”

Jazz brightened a bit at the clear goals of this young woman.  “That’s great!  I really hope it all works out,” she said, smiling.  “Geez, I’m super happy I met you.  I was afraid I’d have to hang out with my PARENTS the whole night.”

Val chuckled, popping a cheesecake bite into her mouth.  “I’m surprised Masters extended the invite to us kids at all.  Then again, it’s not exactly an overly FANCY shindig, is it~?”

“No, but I can definitely appreciate that.”

“You think we’ll get any gift bags when we leave~?” Tucker asked, butting in on the conversation with a grin.

“Mind your own business, man,” Sam muttered, shoving him.

“Hey!  If it means getting an 18-inch plasma screen tv gift bag, I’d do a lot~”

Val snorted, seeming to find the younger man amusing.  “Knowing these rich types, if there is any gift giving involved it’s either going to be something very little, or something extravagant.  Besides, there are rumors about Masters, you know.”

Tucker nodded in agreement, grinning.  “Heard he inherited a fortune from some long lost dead relatives, after coming of age or something.”

“It was the house he inherited,” Sam snapped, small fork clinking against her salad plate.  The salad was all she had touched at the dinner table that night.  “This manor belonged to his old ancestors, according to my mother… old blood money.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Jazz remarked with a smile.  

The look Sam gave her made her smile crack a little.  “Trust me, money is always a bad thing,” the goth told her.

Tucker rolled his eyes and elbowed her.  “Says the rich kid~!”

“That’s why you should take my word for it, dumbass.”

“Now, now, children!” Pamela Manson fussed, clapping her hands.  “Language, Samantha!  And I’m sure you can use your inside voices.”

Vlad raised a hand; everyone at the table went silent.  “It’s alright if the younger folk want to go off and explore,” he declared, chuckling.  “Not everyone wants to stick around to listen to us talk while dinner cooks.  Go enjoy yourselves!  Take instagram photos or whatnot.”

“Sweet!” Tucker exclaimed, not hesitating a second to jump up from the table and whip out his phone.  He clicked the face cam.  “Everybody say–!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

A bloodcurdling screech came from the kitchen.

The families all looked at one another…

Then, Vlad stood up, looking over the table.  “Emma?” he called cautiously, brows furrowed in concern.  “Is everything all right?”

There was a moment of silence…

BANG!

Everyone jumped again, then exhaled in disbelief and relief when it was just a young, flustered French maid.  “No no no, je suis désolé!  Vewy sorry!  I spilled hot broth on myself, but I am bettair now!” she insisted, gave a little curtsy, and ducked back into the kitchen to be sworn at – in classical book titles – by the cook.

Vlad sighed, then turned back to the kids with a smile.  “Well, there you go then.  I will have someone fetch you when dinner is ready.  Go on!  Run free~!”

No one needed to tell them twice.  Sam was the first one out of the dining hall, followed closely by Jazz and Val, with Tucker bringing up the rear with his plate full of finger foods.  His mouth was full as he talked animatedly, waving his phone around with one hand and snapping random pictures as they went.  “So where should we go first?  Maybe there’s a game room somewhere!  Or a home movie theater!  Oooohh~”

His voice dropped to a mock transylvanian accent as he creeped up to the head of the group, walking backwards as he talked.  “Or pewhaps we will find some old cweepy secwet wooms and tunnels, wooooo~!”

“Knock it off, Tucker.”  

The boy pouted, altering his stride to match Sam’s.  “Aw come on, I know you don’t like these kind of parties, but at least TRY to have fun.”

Jazz giggled a bit at that.  “So, how do you guys know each other?” she asked, feeling like she should take charge as the eldest.

“Oh, we go to the same high school,” Sam deadpanned, scrolling through her own phone.  She took a picture of a dead spider in the corner, a smile on her dark purple lips.  “We’ve known each other since eighth grade.”

“And in case you’re wondering, YES,” Tucker grinned.  “Sam DID hatch out of an egg!”

He got a few half hearted chuckles for that, and Sam didn’t even really respond to the jab.  Must have been an inside joke.  Val paused in front of an old black and white painting, studying it for a moment before following along with the rest of the group.  Tucker veered left or right occasionally to look in some of the rooms attached to the hall.  Some of the doors were locked, others lead to little studies or random rooms.  But the deeper they went into the manor, the more locked doors they came across, and the more the rooms seemed unattended.

“Big place to live alone…” Val commented, looking over the boy’s shoulder into a dark, dusty room.  “Guess it would be a bit much to keep all the rooms livable…”

“How long has Mister Masters lived here?” Jazz wondered aloud, looking up at the crystal chandelier that hung silently overhead.  They had reached the end of the hall, the space opening back up towards the grand front foyer of the manor.  The others started to climb up the stairs to the second floor.

“My mom says he moved out here after he graduated college,” Sam replied, admiring the oak banister.  “He was out of contact for awhile actually, had to deal with a lot of affairs, inheriting all this.  It was all before I was born though.  Before we all were.”

“Think there are any ghosts here?” Tucker smirked.

“I highly doubt it,” Valerie interrupted, wanting to stop that train of thought before it even started.  “There’s no such thing.”

Jazz hated to be the know-it-all, but hey, she was the eldest.  “ACTUALLY, there is collective evidence that ghosts exist…” she pointed out.  “I found a college thesis on it and decided to check it out for myself.”

She reached the end of the dark hallway, jiggling a locked doorknob.  “Turns out there’s a lot of proof of the paranormal.  Ghosts, the rake, vampires.  The only problem is that with a lot of the ‘proof,’ there’s no way to back it up or to disprove it.”

Sam finally looked intrigued by the redhead.  “Well, what’s your opinion?”

Jazz blinked.  “Well, like I just said, the FACTS state that–”

“What’s YOUR OPINION?” the goth repeated, crossing her arms.

The redhead hesitated, glancing between Valerie, Sam, and Tucker.  The bespectacled boy wasn’t on really on her list of preferred acquaintances, but she liked Valerie, and Sam really needed to be talked to about her relationship with her parents so…

“I… guess I believe in them?” she white-lied, shrugging.

Val raised a brow at her, turning around to face her with crossed arms.  “Really now?  And what kind of studies have you read to lead you to believe in fairy tales~?”

“Hey!  Fairy tales and all stories have at least a seed of truth!”  Tucker protested, defending Jazz a little since he was a bit of a believer himself.  “Some stuff just isn’t easily explained!  Who’s to say any of it isn’t real?”

“Oh what, like ghosts?”  Val questioned with a snort.  “Bigfoot?  _Mermaids~?_ ”

“Less than 10% of the ocean has been explored by humans,” Sam said with a shrug, tone and expression neutral.  “Maybe there is something out there that’s like a mermaid or whatever.  It’s possible.”

Jazz held back a snort, trying to keep her voice politely interested.  “So, you believe in fairies?  Like, Oddparents kinda faires, or…?”

“The correct term, is ‘fae,’”  Sam said cuttingly.  “And they are nothing like the good little fairies Disney feeds you.”

“Oh boy, here we go…”  Tucker huffed, sitting down in a nearby chair.  

Sam ignored him and turned to Val and Jazz, face stony.  “The Fae are old world creatures, and they have been here long before humans.  The stories of their kind date back CENTURIES, and they are cruel and powerful.”

“Cruel?” Jazz parroted, frowning.  “So, not the wish-giving kind, I suppose…”

Sam actually laughed at that.  “Oh, they can grant wishes, but at a terrible cost.  They are cruel because we have polluted this world, killing the nature they were born with and poisoning the air and water.  They live in tiny pockets of the world now, hiding in thin veils, waiting to take back what was once theirs…”

“And this has been Sam Manson, the environment nazi,” Tucker deadpanned.  “Stop smoking and eating meat and cutting down trees, or you’ll get eaten by a fairy.”

“Oh nooooooo, Tinkerbell, nooooooooo!” Valerie keened, swatting at the air and laughing.  “Get me the fly swatter!”

“It’s not a joke!”  Sam snapped, hands on her hips.  But the others just laughed at her while Jazz smiled in sympathy.  Sam growled and walked off, the others chasing after her so as not to get separated.  

 

~*~

 

For a half hour or so they explored what little of the manor they could, swapping little stories about themselves and the like.  They found a large library that they had to bodily drag Jazz away from, and even a study, with a well-kept grand piano.  Surprisingly, Tucker knew how to play, and they enjoyed his talents before moving on.

Finally, as their bellies growled loudly in their ears, they made their way back down towards the dining hall from the other side, having walked in a complete circle.  

“It’s been so freaking long, dude, you think dinner is ready yet?” Tucker moaned.  His plate of h’orderves was long since licked clean.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be, geez…” Jazz muttered.

They turned the corner, opened the door, and something jumped out at them!!

“AH!!”

“What in the world are you four doing out here?!” Damon demanded.  “Dinner has been ready for fifteen minutes!”

Valerie grabbed her chest, heart racing.  “Dad!  Sheesh, don’t DO that!”

“I almost clocked you with a plate!” Tucker wheezed.

Sam stalked past him with a huff.  “We were exploring, like our host suggested.  Besides, it’s not like anyone came to tell us or anything!”

“We just made our way back,” Jazz soothed, speaking over Sam’s rough tone.  “The mansion is really big and we got turned around a few times, I’m sorry.”

The adults glanced up from the magnificent meal of medium-rare steak and potatoes.  Vlad raised a brow as knives and forks sawed into pink, glistening meat.  “I sent Hopson for you almost twenty minutes ago, did he get lost?” the man asked, somewhat jokingly.

“‘Hopson’?”  Tucker asked as he sat down, clearly finding the name amusing.  Val frowned though, remembering the old, balding butler that had taken their coats when they first arrived at the mansion.  She shared a confused look with Jazz from across the table.

“Um… we never saw him.”

Vlad glanced up, brows furrowed in confusion.  “What?  But–”

Another bloodcurdling scream sounded from the foyer.  

Maddie, who seemed to have been trying to draw Vlad into another conversation, frowned in annoyance.  “What in the world is it now?” she muttered.

“More soup spilling?” Tucker tentatively asked, sounding hopeful.  

Dead silence followed the shriek.

Then… as everyone fell silent… another sound emerged.

A soft  _drip._

_Drop…_

Val put down her fork, eyes scanning the room for the source of the sound.  “What is that?  A leak?”

She looked up at the ceiling, frowning.  “Where is it coming from?”

“It’s not coming from in here,”  Jazz muttered, slowly standing up from her chair, eyes trained on the double doors that lead back to the front foyer.  Damon was standing up as well, expression hard and vigilant as the cop in him emerged.  

“Perhaps everyone should stay here while I–”

“Oh, nonsense~!”  Pamela exclaimed, voice jubilant but exasperated.  “Let’s all go see what’s wrong, which I’m sure is NOTHING, so we can all get back to this wonderful feast our host has prepared!”

Vlad frowned… but patted Maddie’s shoulder reassuringly and left the dining room.  

The others followed him tentatively.

At first, when they all walked into the foyer, all that they saw was the small figure of Emma kneeling on the floor, staring up at the ceiling with her hands over her mouth.  Vlad huffed, rolling his eyes quickly, and stepped up to the young maid, touching her shoulder.  “Young lady, if you can’t stop this screaming I’ll let you take the night off and just go home,” he murmured, trying to be comforting despite his impatience.  “If your nerves are that raw–”

Something hot and wet landed on the back of Vlad’s neck.  Plip.

The billionaire jumped in surprise, immediately swiping it off his skin.  “What in the–?!”

His fingertips came away red.

Vlad paused… then, slowly, his eyes raised up to the chandelier.

There, among the ornate gold and crystals, Hopson hung like a grotesque, lump of prey, cocooned by a mass of his own intestines.  His stomach had been ripped open like a clump of tissue paper and the mucus lining left dangling at the edges, yellow-red in color and dripping to the floor.  The smell lingered by the ceiling, and only then did Vlad – and his guests – notice that Emma had slipped in a mix of odds and ends, pooled under the chandelier.  Her stockings were stained with red, and a clear fluid that didn’t seem to mix as well with the rest of it… something that seared at their nostrils… like the stench was burrowing into their sinuses…

Tucker scurried over to a nearby potted plant and promptly threw up, the smell of his bile sharply penetrating that of the lingering gore in the room.  It took a moment for the others to come back to themselves, all of them pale and in a state of shock.

Pamela was the first to scream.  “AHHHHHHHH!!”

She turned and hid her face in her husband’s neck, shrieking the whole while.  Jeremy was no better off, gaping like a goldfish as he hastily stepped back, dragging his hysterical wife with him.  Sam was staring at the body in morbid fascination along with Val and Damon, while Jazz had moved back to her parents, body shaking with nerves and horror.

“We need to call someone,” Damon finally said, voice quiet and stern.  “We need to call the authorities.”

“There’s no service out here!” Maurice Foley cried, holding his wife and son to him, who had finally stopped puking his guts, but had gone disturbingly quiet.  “None of the cells work!”

“There’s a land line installed here and in my office,” Vlad stated calmly, even as his hands shook.  “We can try calling out for help…”

“Who could have DONE this…?” Jack demanded, voice just slightly above normal volume in his hysteria.  “To get him up on the chandelier–!”

“JACK, could you just STOP?!” Maddie huffed, looking just as frightened as the rest of them, but a furious fire in her eyes.  She turned to Vlad, brows furrowed over burning eyes.  “Vlad, are there any weapons in the house?”

Vlad blinked.  “I… I’m not sure.  I think the gardener had a shotgun, but I told him to get rid of it.”

“Jazz, come with me!” Maddie commanded, taking her daughter by the arm.  “We’re going to find some weapons!”

“Mom, wait!”  Jazz protested, looking back towards her dad and Damon.  “We need to call the cops!  We shouldn’t get split up, either!  MOM!”

“If whoever did this is still out there, and near…”  Val murmured, speaking what they were all thinking.  “She’s right, we need to stay together.”

“Then we head for the gardener’s–!”

“STOP.”

Vlad’s voice echoed throughout the foyer.  The panicking people immediately fell silent, staring at their host.  Once he was sure he had everyone’s attention, he lowered his voice, but retained his authoritative tone.  “Hopson served me for half a decade.  I don’t intend to let him dangle here like a pinata,” the man said.  “If anyone will be so kind to volunteer, I wish to take him down.”

“I’ll help you,” Damon said, following Vlad up the stairs to help lower the chandelier.  Together they carefully lowered the massive light fixture to the floor, groaning under the weight of it as they clung to the chains.  Bellow, Jack came forward and carefully pulled Hopson’s body down, laying it on the floor as gently as he could.

“I got him!”

With a sigh of relief, Vlad and Damon pulled the chandelier back up to its place, tying it back down.  The chandelier swung violently, and a string of intestine slipped off…

And landed right along poor Emma’s shoulders.

“EEEEKK!!”

The girl screamed bloody murder, startling everyone as she came out of her catatonic state.  She jumped to her feet and threw herself around, desperately trying to get the gore off as she clawed at her neck and dress.  Angela Foley tried to subdue the girl, speaking in low, soothing tones, but she just continued to scream and wail in french before running from the room entirely, tears streaming down her face and her cries echoing down the hall.

Jazz startled, pulling away from her mom.  “W-wait, come back!  Don’t go off alone!”

“Emma!”  Vlad called, running back down the steps.  

Maddie whipped in the girl’s direction, apparently not taking too kindly to her hysterical antics.  “Young lady, come back here!” she snapped, on edge.

Before long, most of the party was running back towards the dining hall, searching for the missing maid.  

Tucker clung to his dad, looking around like a monster was going to come out of every shadow.  “W-where did she go?”

“She worked with him ever since she got here…” Vlad murmured worriedly.  He repeatedly turned the ring on his finger, and his eyes were haunted – almost feverish.  “I wouldn’t be surprised that she’s traumatized…”

“All the more reason to find her,” Damon said softly, keen eyes scoping out every door and window.  “We need to stay together, and in the state she’s in she could be as much of a danger to herself as to us.”

“But where did she GO?”  Sam snapped, turning around in a tight circle.  “We were right behind her, how could we have lost her?”

Jazz ran a shaking hand through her long hair, wide eyes following everyone’s movements, even as she herself was trying to calm her pounding heartbeat.  “She knows the halls better than us, she works here…”

She glanced up at Vlad, concerned.  “What about her rooms?  Would she have gone there?”

“Is there anyone else that works here?”

Everyone turned to glance at Valerie, startled by the question as no one else had seemed to think of that.  Vlad frowned at her.  “Well, the cook, Will Lancer, but he’s down in the… kitchen…”

He trailed off, eyes wide, then looked at Damon.  “You’re the police officer, what should we do?”

Damon met his eyes with a frown, seeming to think over the options before them.  

Finally, he nodded, and turned back the way they came.  “You said there was a landline?”

“Yes, I have a phone in the foyer and in my office.”

“Then this is what we are going to do,” Damon explained as he led them back to the foyer.  “We’re going to call the authorities, then while we wait for them we will find Emma and the cook.  Only then will we move, and wait for the police to arrive, in an open, safe environment.  Possibly the foyer or the dining room.”

“There’s also the study,” Vlad provided helpfully, leading Damon to the phone that sat on a granite bureau near the doors.  “We can lock the doors from the inside if needed.”

Damon nodded as he accepted the phone, dialed 9-1-1, and pressed it to his ear.

He frowned.

“There’s no dial tone.”

“What?!”  Jeremy cried.  “What do you mean there’s no dial tone?!”

Vlad took the phone and listened to it himself, frowning as he hung up and turned it back on, but still… nothing.  “It’s just static…”

“Someone cut the landline,” Val said quietly, eyes wide.  

Pamela wailed into her husband’s shoulder while Angela simply clung to her own husband’s arm.  Maddie, however, looked beyond ready to murder someone.  “Well then, what are we going to do now?!” she snapped.

Jazz hesitated, then gently touched her mother’s shoulder.  “Mom, maybe we should just… not respond with violence…?”

Eyes turned onto her as she continued, her young eyes still haunted by what they had seen.  “Let’s just… review what we know for sure,” she murmured, brows furrowed.  “You said that you sent Hopson about twenty minutes before we arrived.  The dining room is right next to the foyer, which has so much of an echo we could hear the drip of… yeah.”

The girl glanced up at the adults.  “This place is big, but it’s not monstrous, so he had to have been taken by surprise and immediately silenced. For neither of us to have heard anything, Hopson had to have been killed somewhere deeper in the house… disemboweled… and put up on the chandelier, all without a sound and in the span of the fifteen minutes that neither party could have heard him – or rather, known where he was.  So… considering someone intelligent killed him, this was meant as a rather colorful display.”

Jazz crossed her arms, trying to hide the slight tremble of her hands.  “We’re dealing with either a physically powerful, or incredibly inventive sociopath if this were the case.  My money is on the latter…”

“While all of that is true, that doesn’t exactly help us get out of this situation, or figure out how to send for help,” Damon responded, moving back once more towards the dining area.  “We should find the maid and the cook, and perhaps leave the grounds completely.”

He met them each in the eye, lingering on Maddie a second longer than the rest.  “Everyone should stay together, no running off on your own.”

The woman frowned, but nodded her agreement.  

Jazz was still frowning, thoughtful as she turned to face Vlad.  “We are the only ones here, out in the middle of nowhere…” she said.  “Did you only have three people on staff?”

Vlad seemed to hesitate… then frowned, crossing his arms.  “My gardener, Mister Sanchez, quit just last month, but he said it was because he claimed he felt ‘terribles ojos.’  Terrible eyes…” he replied, suddenly looking worried again.  He glanced up at his guests.  “He said he feared for his life.  He went missing, too…”

Murmuring picked up from the group, everyone a little unnerved that this could have been happening long before they arrived that night.  Damon opened his mouth to question further, but Jazz beat him to it.  “Do you have any enemies that you know would target you and those that worked for you?” she asked, unaware of Mr. Gray’s frown in her direction.  “Do you think anyone that WORKED for you could do this?  Has anyone else gone missing?”

Vlad’s worried expression dropped, leaving it cold and disapproving.  “Young lady, if you are accusing my staff of murder–”

“I’m not accusing anyone!  I’m just stating the facts–!”

“Miss Jasmine, there ARE no facts yet,” Damon said sharply, cutting her off.  “We have one murder, and a missing person.  Like you yourself said, this could be an old enemy of Mister Masters, or a sociopathic killer.  We have no facts or evidence to lead to anything further.  All you have is an educated guess, and that is not helpful in this situation.  It simply breeds paranoia.”

Jazz flushed scarlet in embarrassment at being talked down to by an adult.  She herself liked to think she was one…  but she knew the man was right and went quiet, turning away to regain her dignity.  Still, she didn’t apologize.  She still felt she was right, after all.

Maddie frowned at her daughter, lightly scolding her as Damon turned back to Vlad.  “We need to find the rest of your staff before we can move on.  Which way to the kitchens?”

“It’s just through here.”

The group followed after the two men as they left the dining room and entered a narrow hallway, likely leading to the servant quarters and passageways.  The lights blazed in the hallway, but now they seemed glaring as the party of twelve approached the end of the hall and a set of swinging double doors.

Vlad had only just placed his palms on the door, when a loud clatter and dull thud met their ears, like a heavy weight had hit the floor.

**Thwak.**

Something about it sounded… wet…

“Oh god…!” Jeremy Manson whimpered.  

He clutched his wife closer, fumbling for Sam; the goth girl squeaked, startled, then shook him off with a soft curse.  “Dad!” she hissed.

“Young lady–!”

“Hush!” Vlad snapped.

The party fell silent again.  The billionaire glanced at Damon, shoulder pressed against the door; he nodded, taking his position.  Vlad held up three fingers, counting down from three… two… one…

SLAM!

They burst into the kitchen, and Damon immediately recoiled, retching.

The cook – Will Lancer – had been a plump, bald man with a pot belly and the rough, paternal mannerisms of an english scholar.  He had cursed in classical book titles, and always tried to help people if they gave their best effort.  He had talented, callused hands… covered in flour and blood… chunks of the red paste spread over the floor, dangling on strings of muscle and small, yellow-white bubbles of fat.

Vlad quickly shut the door before the others could spot his cook.  He grabbed a nearby rag and held it over his nose and mouth, breathing shallowly – white visible all around his eyes – as he slowly approached the body.  Blood pooled in beads over the surface of Lancer’s large countertop; he always kept it greased or floured, depending on what he was cooking.  But now, the skin over his face, hands, and a large portion of his gut had been keenly and meticulously sliced from the delicate muscles beneath, with surgical precision.  It was almost eerie… how flawlessly it had been cut…

Vlad swallowed, eyes slowly wandering over the scene – and then, finally, fixing on Emma.  The young woman had sprawled in a dead faint by the wall.

“What happened here…?” the man breathed.

Damon could feel his senior starting to crumble.  “Mister Masters, try to just–”

“WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!”

Jazz flinched back toward Valerie.  Everyone could hear their host through the door, starting to hyperventilate, and the muffled sound of Damon trying to calm him down.  After a silent moment, Jack steeled himself and slipped through the door, urging his wife to stay behind with the others.  She didn’t seem pleased, but stayed when Maurice and Jeremy followed after him, intent on dealing with the scene before their wives and children would be subjected to more horror.  

Jack had to fight the urge to wretch at the sight of the cook, Maurice handling it only a smidgen better.

Jeremy, on the other hand, turned and threw up in a nearby bin.

Damon had finally seemed to calm Vlad back down, but the man was still pale as a sheet and his hands trembled.  Jack placed a supporting hand on his shoulder, quiet for once in his life.

“We need to wake the girl,” Damon finally said, moving away to check her pulse.  “She might have seen what happened.”

“Yes… yes of course…” Vlad murmured, coming over to his other side.  “I think there are some smelling salts in the cabinet over there.”

Maurice spotted them on a nearby shelf.  “I got ‘em.”

The elder man took them gratefully, opening the small jar and waving it under Emma’s nose.  She woke up with a start, eyes unfocused before going impossibly wide, her chest heaving as she began to hyperventilate and shriek.  The men were quick to try and calm her, holding her down.

“Miss?  Miss, you need to stay calm!”

“Monstre!” she screamed, accent heavy as she switched to her native language, voice thick with her fright.  “Il était un monstre!”*

Damon frowned.  “Monster?”

“Emma, you’re speaking French!  No one else understands what you’re SAYING!” Vlad scolded, holding her tight, trying both to calm her and to prevent her from running away again.  “What did you see?!”

“Couper en tranches et en dés, écorché comme un poisson,”*  she rambled, eyes skittering around the room blindly.  “Monstre, bête de l'enfer!  Nous allons tous mourir!”*

Vlad cradled her neck, hushing her quietly.  “Shhh… it’s alright, Emma.  C’est de’accord…”

The maid winced – then stared up at him with wide eyes, whimpering.  “C’est de’accord,” Vlad repeated, gently stroking her hair.  “Il est tout va bien se passer.*  Jack, Mister Gray?”

Not looking away from his young servant, he addressed the larger men of their party.  “There is a walk-in freezer, just there, behind the counter.  Please, will you move William into it?  And Hopson as well…?” he asked.

His voice grew husky and hushed, his fright evident to the other men.  “I… I don’t just want them lying around.”

Jack immediately got to work.  Damon hesitated slightly, but nodded; he wasn’t far behind the gentle giant.  

“W-What can we do?” Maurice asked, coming forward.  Jeremy still looked queasy.

Vlad picked up the shivering maid in his arms, holding her reassuringly to his chest.  “Go tell the women and children what happened, keep them company,” the silver-haired man murmured.  He turned, carrying her from the kitchen.  “I’m going to put Emma in my office.  It’s arguably the most secure room in this house; the windows are bullet proof and shatterproof, the walls are soundproof, and the locks are controlled by access codes only I and Hopson know– knew.  She’ll be safe there…”

Jeremy quavered nervously.  “Y-You can’t go off alone, what if–?!”

“I wish for this creature to come after me.”

The three men blinked, stunned by the low, threatening tone of their host.  A feverish light glittered in Vlad’s eyes as he stared at the door.  “If anything dares to take my servants, show them off in such a horrific way… it’s me that it’s after…”

“W-Wait, ‘IT’?!” Jack exclaimed, eyes wide.  “Vladdy, do you know something about what–?!”

The door flipped shut.

 

_*Translations: “Monster! It was a monster!”_

_“Cut and sliced and diced, flayed like a fish.”  “Monster, beast of hell!  We are all going to die!“_

_“It’s okay…” “It’s okay.  It’s all going to be fine.”_


	2. Chapter Two

Jack abandoned the body and took off after his friend.  “VLAD!” **  
**

Damon grimaced in exertion as the cook’s faceless skull hit the floor.  Blood splattered over his shoes.  “Oh my– Jack, don’t just leave me with this!  Get back here!”

But he was already gone.

“Maurice, come help me with this!” the officer ordered.  Tucker’s dad immediately obeyed, hoisting the body up; together, they hobbled the corpse into the freezer.  Jeremy, on the other hand, whimpered again and hurried back out to the rest of the group.  Jazz was the first to greet him, the rest turning around to look at him with wide, questioning eyes.  They had all seen Vlad leave with the maid and their voices rose as they fired question after question.

“What’s going on?” the redhead asked, eyes wide and curious.  “What happened?”

“Where was Mister Masters taking Emma?”

“Where is the cook?  Is he dead?!”

Jeremy swallowed thickly and took a calming breath, taking his wife’s hand.  “The cook is… dead.  I… I don’t know how to describe it.  It was like he was… was s-skinned.”

Jazz gasped, mouth falling open in shock.  First the butler was disemboweled, now the cook had been skinned?  What was happening here?  A few moments passed as the group whispered among themselves, growing silent as they watched Damon and Maurice come back out of the kitchen, passing the group and heading towards the foyer.  They returned quickly with Hopson’s body, causing Pamela to gasp and Angela to look away.

“They’re moving the b-bodies to the freezer…”  Jeremy murmured, urging everyone to move back out of their way and keep close.  “Mister Masters took the m-maid to his office.  She seemed to be having a n-nervous breakdown…  I think Jack went to follow him…”

“They shouldn’t have gone off alone!” Maddie scolded, already moving to follow after the men in question.  “I’ll go make sure they’re alright–”

“We NEED to stay together,” Damon corrected her as he rejoined the group.  

Maddie scowled, glaring at him – the contest for authority between the two harsh and apparent.  Nonetheless, the police officer met her blistering glare evenly.  “So we will ALL meet up with them.  I don’t want anyone wandering off alone right now.”

Jazz bit her lip, eyes flicking towards the kitchen.  She had a growing need to see the cook’s body for herself.  Perhaps she could have seen some clues there, some ideas as to who could have done this or why!  She rubbed her arms as the group moved through the dining room and out towards the foyer for the third time, following Damon as he intended to find Vlad and Jack.

“We need to get out of this house!” Pamela hissed, clinging to her husband desperately.  “Whoever did this is obviously still around!”

“And has done their research.”

They all jumped as Vlad and Jack joined them from the other side of the foyer, the big man frowning as he moved back towards his wife and daughter.  Maddie turned to Vlad, placing a soft hand on his arm.  “What do you mean?  Is everything alright?” she crooned softly.

Vlad nodded, but his eyes were distant and troubled.  “Emma passed out again, the poor girl is at her wit’s end.  She was babbling about monsters and hell beasts… but whoever did this must have planned accordingly, because the phone in my office was cut, and that was a separate landline…”

Damon came up to Vlad’s side, expression grave.  “If we have no way of contacting the outside, then we should leave to do so.  I don’t think staying in this house would be the best course of action.”

“Yes… yes, of course, you’re absolutely right,”  Vlad agreed.  “Emma will be safe in my office, we should get help…”

No one needed to tell the others twice as they all moved quickly towards the large, double doors.  Jeremy was the first to reach them, grasping the bronze handles and tugging hard.  But while the oak doors groaned under his weight… they didn’t budge.

“What in the–?!” the blond gasped, grabbing the handle with both hands.  

Tucker ran forward to grab at the handle of the other door, but no matter what either of them did, they couldn’t get the doors to open.

“They’re sealed shut!”

“What?!” Valerie yelped.  Panic started to sweep through the families, building into a burning, writhing tangle of anxiety so potent they could almost taste it–!

Vlad held his hands above the mob.  “SILENCE!”

He glanced around at the dark foyer… waiting for the echoes to fade…

Finally, they did.

When he spoke, it was at a whisper.  “There is another exit out through the greenhouse,” Vlad breathed.  “Follow me, stay quiet, stay vigilant.  Damon, at the back.  We need your trained eyes.  Maddie?  Come with me, at the front.  You’ve always been better at spotting these things than I have.”

Her violet eyes brightened – despite all the peril of their situation.  “Of course.”

Vlad nodded, his expression grave.  “Then let’s move.”

Quickly, the party of twelve set off across the lengthy foyer and by the time they filed up the steps, they had fallen into an order.  Vlad and Maddie led the main chunk of them, with Jack and the Mansons huddling close behind them; Sam was unable to tear away from her parents’ near-bruising grip on her arm.  A few steps back followed Angela and Maurice, Tucker just behind them.  Jazz, Valerie, and Damon brought up the rear.  With her father keenly watching their backs, Val leaned in towards Jazz’s ear, her glittering green eyes worried in the fading light of the chandelier. “What do you think it is?” she whispered, unconsciously clinging to the older girl.  

“It?” Jazz repeated, eyes flickering around her.  “Well, I admit that the killings are… extreme, but surely there wasn’t evidence to lead that something other than a human having committed them…”

She turned to look at Val, blue eyes wide.  “Right?”

Val frowned.  “Yeah… but Emma was blathering on about a monster–”

“She was traumatized!”

“And even Mister Masters was calling the killer an it!” Val finished, trying her hardest to keep her voice down.  “Maybe he knows something…”

“Mister Masters is just as much of a victim as we are in all of this,” Jazz deduced, voice calm once more as she tried to reason the situation with herself and Val.  “In fact, I’d say he’s the target.  His own staff, murdered in such a way…”

“A hitman then?”

“Maybe… but to be this showy about it?”  Jazz argued, unconvinced.  “I thought hitmen were supposed to be subtle.”

Val huffed, the stress wearing at her nerves.  “Okay, then, an enemy of his?  Perhaps someone he wronged in the business world?  A disgruntled lover?!”

“Valerie…”

The girl sighed, looking away.  “I just want to know what the hell we’ve been dragged into, you know?  What have we gotten mixed up in, huh?  What isn’t he telling us?”

“He isn’t hiding anything!  He’s trying to help us get out of here!”

“How is being stuck in this old manor of his helping?!”

“Val, Jazz.  Enough.”  

Both girls winced and grew quiet once more, glancing back at Damon as he scolded them from the rear of the group.  They flushed in embarrassment, realizing everyone in the group had likely heard their argument.  Val looked away with a huff, choosing to ignore the others while Jazz looked up ahead.  She frowned as she watched her mom interact with Mr. Masters, all sympathetic smiles and a hand on his arm or shoulder.  

Now she was flushing in shame for a different reason…

“This leads into the greenhouse,” Vlad explained as they neared a set of glass doors, the group sighing in relief as they opened easily.  “There is another entrance at the back, we can get outside that way.”

He lowered his voice, slowing his pace.  “Now, everyone stay quiet…” he whispered.  “This place would be easy to get into… so be on your guard.”

The party fell silent – the horror of the murders still fresh in their minds – as they followed Vlad through the dark ferns.  The strips of simulated sunlight were bright against the black glass, but the utter silence and stark shadows made it feel like someone was watching…

Maddie stuck close to the billionaire, her violet eyes scanning the vegetation.  “How big is this place…?” she whispered.

“For god’s sake, keep quiet!” Jeremy warbled, clinging to his wife and daughter.  “What’s the matter with you?!”

“Hush!”

Something rustled in the brush.  It was distant – a single leafy branch, dozens of yards away – but to everyone, it was loud enough.  All twelve people stiffened, wide-eyed as hunted deer, frozen in place…

There was a long silence.

Valerie unconsciously reached out for her father.  Jazz trembled, fumbling at the younger girl.

Fear swept through the group in a silent wave.

Then, Jazz smelled it.

Faint at first… but as the seconds passed, it grew stronger and stronger.  The stench of meat, left to rot for days in the sun, the kind that coated your lungs and left a taste like death in your mouth.  Artfully fused with the acidic stink of… brine… sweat…

Something… heavy…

Vlad swallowed, opened his mouth, and said one word.

“Go…!”

Fear took over all rational thought as everyone made a mad dash through the greenhouse, trying their best to stick to the skinny path and find the exit on the other side.  A twig brushed across Pamela’s shoulder, snagging on her dress and causing her to shriek in terror, pulling away from her husband.  She was swatting at the air around her, like she was fighting off an invisible attacker, tumbling into the foliage.  Sam looked back, a mixture of fear and annoyance on her face.  “MOM!”

Maddie snarled in irritation and doubled back.  Jack whirled, grabbing for his wife and missing by an inch.  “Maddie, no!”

The rustling was getting closer.  Heavy thumping – footsteps – echoed through the greenhouse.  Maddie got down by the shrieking Pamela, yanking her to her feet.  “Are you CRAZY?!  ARE YOU TRYING TO GET EVERYONE SLAUGHTERED?!” she bellowed.

The air pressure changed.  A huge, fleshy shape came crashing through the vegetation.  Maddie saw it in the corner of her eye, and on the other side, but couldn’t react fast enough.  It was running past them, an arm the size of a tree trunk swinging back–!

The other woman opened her mouth, about to voice a retort.

A huge elbow crashed into Pamela’s skull.

The entire top half of her head vaporized on impact, practically liquified into tiny bits of bone, squirming shreds of eyes, and soft brain matter, a cloud of blood mist spreading across Maddie’s face so evenly it was almost elegant – like morning dew off the lawn.  Every individual, pearly white tooth was knocked from its root, all but a single molar nestled at the farthest point of her gums.  They gleamed as they flew through the air, mixing with the scattered pearls of her broken necklace.  Her bright, orange hair scattered.  The stray pieces fluttered slowly, gently to the ground… unless they were still attached to the skin.  Those struck the trees much faster, with a sound like pudding being thrown against a wall.

The others were already fleeing.  But they weren’t fast enough.

Maddie screamed, as loud as she could.

Then, it was upon the group, skidding to a stop.

They were still too far away from the door, too far away to get away!  Jazz turned, one hand gripping Val’s, pressing herself into her father’s side.  Her irises rimmed in the artificial light as she stared up at the murderer.

No one could even utter a sound.

The stench of spoiled flesh was so thick it was suffocating.  A hulking creature, ten feet tall, with eyes like marbles set deep in a skull wider than any human she had ever seen.  Mismatched arms were stitched onto a thick trunk, constructed of the skin of human torsos, for one had apparently not been enough.  Skin was stretched, folded, and stitched like old leather, over something that moved and pushed – and leaked through the tiny holes, trails of gaseous matter blacker than the night.  It had one slender, delicate arm; the other torn up and almost entirely stitches, with a hand made for crushing skulls and ripping out soft internal organs, like a child could scoop out the flesh of a watermelon.

But… the thing had no face.  Only dry, black muscles stretched over a rotting spine, and teeth that had been stolen far too long ago.  No neck, no face.  Only its stinking mist rose up through the hole, surrounding its skull in a dark, hellish corona.

“Hah… haaAAAHH…”  Tucker began to wail, taking a shaky step back along with his parents.  Everyone drew back from the creature before them, squeezing tight together as they stared up at this… this THING.  

Sam moved closer to Jeremy, looking back past the monster to where her mother lay prone and nearly headless in the grass.  “M-mom–?”

“Shh…”  Damon whispered, moving to stand in front of his daughter protectively.  Vlad and Jack moved as well, slow and steady, as they tried to carefully press the group behind them and closer to the door.  “No sudden movements…”

The hulking creature watched them with its tiny black eyes, flesh rippling and bubbling as he stepped closer.  Warm red blood dripped down its thick arm, unnoticed.  

“Everyone, just stay togeth–”

The thing opened its mouth, baring rotten teeth.  Not a sound came out.

Jazz nearly blacked out as it felt as if her skull was set to vibrate, shaking her brain at a hornet-like velocity until she felt a capillary burst in her eyes.  She screamed – joining the chorus of pain splitting the air and falling to her knees along with Vlad, Valerie, Damon, Jack, Jeremy, Sam, Tucker, Maurice, Angela.  The monstrous thing sunk down to its knees, swelling eagerly as it launched itself at them–!

Then, a double-barreled shotgun unloaded into its side.  BAM!

It stumbled, small eyes wide in shock as a huge hole tore through the stitched skin.  Black mist boiled out of the hole – struggling with the same frantic nature as an ant on its back as it drifted into the air, like ink in water.

Instantly, the vibration vanished.

The group gasped, crying out in relief as they crashed to the ground, ears bleeding and eyes streaming with pink tears.  Jeremy scrambled on all fours over to his wife’s corpse, sobbing her name.  “P-Pam, PAM!”

In a haze of discharge, Maddie stood, gasping for breath and eyes filled with murder.  She held a sawed-off shotgun against her shoulder; quickly, she popped the spent shells and loaded new ones.  “Everyone, GO!!” she yelled.

Everyone scattered on instinct.  

Maddie pulled the trigger again.  BAM!!

The creature’s bigger arm was blasted off.  More black gas boiled out of the hole, thickening in the air; its black button eyes were frantic as it tried to cover the hole, then after a moment of hesitation, doubled back into the leaves, beating a hasty retreat.  

Maddie moved as if to pursue it, but Jack caught her arm and pulled her back.  “Come on, let’s get out of here!”

The redheaded woman growled in annoyance but complied, following after the others as they moved quickly to the back end of the greenhouse.  She winced in sympathy when Jeremy came stumbling past her, Pamela’s body cradled in his arms.  It seemed he was unable to leave her body behind…

“The door’s locked!”  Vlad called, startling her out of her thoughts.  

She pushed her way to the front of the group where Damon and Vlad were trying with all their strength to open the glass double doors.  She raised her shotgun.  “Stand clear!”

The group quickly moved out of her way as she took aim, fired one of the barrels, and blasted a hole through the doors, showering glass all over the floor.  Damon was quick to kick the rest of the glass away before pulling back, gesturing for the others to go through.  “Careful!  One at a time!”

The moon was full overhead as the unfortunate guests spilled out into Vlad’s backyard.  Their host moved back to the front of the group, leading them as quickly as he could around the manor.  “We need to get to the vehicles!”

No one argued with that logic.  Even with the full moon and vast number of stars, it was utterly dark among the countless looming willows and whispers of tall foliage.  The scent of the distant marsh filled their lungs and occasionally someone tripped or stumbled when their shoe sunk into the soft soil.  No one seemed to notice that it was utterly silent.  No birds.  No insects.  Nothing.

Finally, the group came around the final bend, the light of the front porch and many jack-o-lanterns lighting their way.  A sigh of relief spilled through them as the first car was sighted…

Then, the fountain came into view.  

Everyone slowed down from their fast trot to a slow, stuttering stop.  

Jazz gasped in utter horror at the crumbled decay where the once beautiful grecian fountain had stood.  The top half of the statue was gone entirely, the marble seemingly sliced through at the hips.  But that wasn’t what had everyone going pale…

Out of the middle of the statue, bubbling up through the pipes, was a thick, dark sludge that ran red in the watery pools of the fountain’s base… like one massive, wet clot of blood, glopping over the flawless marble in streams and chunks, in gallons.

“What… what could have done this?”  Jazz breathed, hands beginning to shake.  

The foul smell of old, sticky blood reached their nostrils, causing the younger ones to gag on bile and the older ones to turn away, trying to steer the women and children towards the cars.  “L-Let’s get out of here already!”  Valerie cried, all but running to her dad’s car.

“There’s more than one of them…” Jeremy rasped, holding his wife’s dripping corpse.  “Th-There’s more than one of those things…  Th-THERE’S MORE THAN ONE!”

“DAD!  Omigod, st-stop yelling…!”

Sam was starting to hyperventilate, retching into the grass.  “Oh god, oh my– mom, MOM…!”

She fell to her knees away from her parents, clawing at Tucker’s pant leg; the boy knelt down and she clawed her way up his body, clinging to him like her life depended on it.  “MOOOOOM!!” she wailed.  Tears and snot streamed down her face, her mascara running.  “I NEVER MEANT ANYTHING I SAID, I’M SO SORRYyyyyyyy…!  AHHHHHHH!”

Jasmine hurried to join the two, wrapping her arms around them in an attempt to quiet the hysterical girl.  “Sh-Shhhh… i-it’s okay, it’s… no it’s not okay, why would it be okay…?”

Her hands visibly trembled from what she had seen.  “Not human… not human… oh GOD, that thing wasn’t HUMAN…!” she gasped.

Her mind whirled at a hundred miles an hour.  Behind her, a car sputtered as Damon tried to start it.  That… thing, whatever it was, had been using some kind of… sonic attack!  There had been no sound; it had to have been at a frequency below the level of human hearing!  So powerful it burst capillaries, rattled brains, shook teeth loose.  The black matter inside it, it had moved by itself, writhing like a living thing!  Puppeting around that stitched-together bag of human flesh like a ten-year-old in their first sack race.  But what was it?  “What was it–?!” she whispered.

Damon got out of the Foley’s mini-van and hurried over to Vlad.  “None of the cars will start,” he whispered, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“That’s no surprise…” the billionaire hissed back, not bothering to keep the fear out of his own.  

He swallowed.  “They’re inside now…”

“‘They?’  Mister Masters, what are you talking about–?!”

His dark eyes flicked over to the mansion, still lit up like a beacon in the murky night.   “O-Oh no, Emma!  Emma is still inside!” Vlad gasped, grabbing at Damon.  “We have to go in there!  We have to save her!  A heavy door isn’t going to stop those monsters, we have to–!”

“Vlad!”

Maddie gripped his arm tightly.  “Hey… hey…” she whispered, softly running her fingers up and down his sleeve.  She hesitated, then wrapped her arms around his broad chest; she pressed her breasts against his back, then her cheek, closing her eyes.  “It’s okay… We’ll go inside, okay?  It’ll be fine.  Your girl will be fine.”

Cobalt eyes flicked down.  His gaze trailed over her slender, yet buxom body, with wide hips that pressed snug against him.  

“Maddie… that’s–”

Lost in the warmth of his body, her sleepy violet eyes met his.  “Hmm?”

Vlad furrowed his brow – almost confused – as he turned to face her.  Maddie’s grip softened, her breath catching as their eyes met, at that place between their height difference.  “…Vlad…?” she murmured.

“…The gun.”

“What gun…?” Maddie breathed.  

She took a step closer, even though there was no space to spare.  On the other side of the car, Jack watched – his expression torn between frustration and sadness – as his wife moved against Vlad…

The billionaire took a sudden step back, almost stumbling as he regained his personal space.  “Madeline, now’s not the time or the place for this kind of…”

Maddie took a sheepish step back, eyes on the ground.  “No, no!  You’re right.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean–”

“Where’d you get the gun, Maddie?”

Her hand went automatically to the weapon at her hip, strapped there by a twisted bungee cord.  “Oh!  Right.”

The woman swallowed, wiping her hands on her pants.  “When Pamela was killed, I screamed to warn you and Jazz – and everyone else, of course – and then I went straight for the garden shed.  You were right about the shotgun, obviously.  But…”

She slammed open the door to the shed and spotted the weapon, just in time for the stench to roll over her.

She doubled over.  “AUGH!”

Maddie sighed, resigned at the memory of ripping that sawed-off shotgun from cold, curdled hands. “Vlad… I’m sorry, but your gardener never left the grounds,” she told him grimly.  “One of the torsos on that thing, maybe an arm, too, came from him.  He died weeks ago.”

Vlad let out an exhausted sigh, burying his head in his hands.  “No…” he whispered.

Maddie wrapped her arms around him again.  “There’s nothing we can do for him now, Vlad, but we can keep going!  We know they can get hurt!”

The silver-haired man nodded, hands coming down his face.  “Yes… Yes, they can, you’re right…!” he whispered.  He reached out and gripped Maddie’s shoulders, pulling her a few inches back so he could call out to the others.  “Everyone, listen up!”

Jazz pulled her head up from hiding – pretending not to have seen all that – and turned to face Vlad along with everyone else.  Including her dad.  Jack’s smile was small, tight, and forced as the other man stepped forward.  

“I know it’s not what anyone wants to hear right now, but we’re going back into the house!” Vlad announced.

“NO!” Jeremy screeched.  The man looked half-mad, petting helplessly at his dead wife.  “THERE’S SOMETHING IN THAT HOUSE–!”

Instantly, the cool-headed billionaire was back.  “Calm yourself, Mister Manson, before another ‘something’ hears you and comes to reunite you with your wife,” Vlad snapped coldly.  

His eyes turned onto the adults.  “Damon, Maddie, Jack, you’re the strongest of us, so you’re with me.  Misses Manson and Mister Sanchez will go in the freezer, with the other bodies.  Once that’s done, us four will explore the manor for weapons and some means of communication with the outside world.  We’ll rescue Emma, and deal with anything that dares to cross our path.  The rest of you will stay together in the kitchen, do you understand?”

Vlad beckoned.  “Jack?  Please.”

Jazz started, looking up at her father.  He looked just as surprised – and slightly offput – as she was.  “Come back into the greenhouse with me.  To fetch the body…”

Jack hesitated, glancing at his wife…

Then, he nodded, going to Vlad’s side.  “Sure.”

Vlad gripped the big man’s sleeve.  “You look like you have something to say to me, my friend,” he murmured.  “Come on…”

Maddie stepped forward.  “I’ll come with you!”

“No.  Thanks, honey, but…”

Jack held out a hand, stopping her.  “I just need the shotgun.”

His wife’s jaw dropped, almost like she was about to snap at him – but something made her stop.  Sighing sharply, she unwrapped the bungee cord from around her waist, disentangled the gun, and gave it to Jack.  

Vlad’s eyes darted nervously between the weapon and his supposed friend.  The big man cradled the gun in the crook of his elbow and glanced at Vlad.  

The two men walked off, back towards the greenhouse.

 

~*~

 

The next ten minutes were the most silent, frightening ones of Jazz’s life.  No one was willing to utter a word besides the hushed tones passed between her mother and Damon.  Sam’s now silent tears were far more unnerving than her loud wails, since there weren’t even the sounds of crickets or cicadas to drown her out.  Mr. Manson had gone quiet, and the Foleys were no better.

Why wouldn’t anyone SAY anything?

Finally, after what Jazz knew was far too long than what two grown men needed to fetch a body…

Vlad and her father returned.  They carried the dead gardener’s body in a large tarp between them, faces stoic but not entirely unaffected by the smell… and feel… of the weeks-old rotting body in their hands.

Jack somberly gave Maddie back the shotgun.  Vlad nodded to Damon, signaling they were ready to move on.  And yet still… everyone remained silent.  Even as they all rose to their feet and proceeded to slowly follow the other’s backs towards the front of the house, no one seemed capable of uttering a sound.  

The front doors were wide open.  How… how could they be open now when they had seemed bolted from the outside not even thirty minutes ago…?

Damon halted at the steps, gesturing for Maddie to come to the front with him.  Jazz watched as her mom and Valerie’s father slowly climbed up the front steps, scoping everything out to make sure it was safe.  

The foyer was clear.

They waved for the rest to follow.  However, it was while they were climbing up those gleaming marble steps, that Jazz noticed the foul smell from the fountain was still strong… under their feet…

A bloody trail, slick and dark, nearly black with sludge and other vile things, was leading up the stairs and through the foyer, deep into the darkness of the old manor…

Jeremy had been right.  There were more, and they were inside…

“We shouldn’t be here,” Angela murmured, voice shaky as she hugged her son to her chest.  “It’s not SAFE in here!”

“It’s not safe out there either, madam,” Vlad responded, voice quiet but stern.  “We are surrounded by hundreds of acres of swamp and forest before we would reach civilization, even on the roads on foot.  Out there, in the open, in the dark… we would be sitting ducks.”

“He’s right, here we have a fighting chance.  Now,” Damon gestured towards the well-lit dining area and kitchen.  “Mister Foley and Mister Manson, you two lead the others towards the kitchen.  There’s only one door in.  You will be able to find weapons there and defend yourselves, as well as put these bodies in with the others, while we search for a way out of this mess.”

Maurice and Tucker stepped forward to take the gardener’s corpse from Vlad and Jack, while Jeremy remained silent, hugging his dead wife to his own chest.  For once, he was uncaring of the stains forming on his expensive suit.  It didn’t matter to him anymore.

Jazz quickly hugged her mom and dad, their whispered assurances that they would be back for her, that she just needed to stay safe, did nothing to ease her fears.  She had to drag Val back with her when the others moved on towards the kitchens, the younger girl arguing that she would be more help in the other group, that she wanted to help her father.

“We need you here, with us,” Jazz told him, even though the words felt hollow in her ears.  “Your father can’t be worrying about you, right?”

Valerie just frowned, nodded once, then moved to help open doors and scout ahead.  Jazz looked back once more at her parents, Vlad, and Damon, before finally following the others into the dining hall.

“This manor is very old,”  Vlad finally said in hushed tones as he lead them in the opposite direction.  “Some rooms I have yet to clean out and I believe, upstairs near the attics, I saw an old radio.  Looked like it may have been used during the war, but… if it still works…”

“Then we might be able to reach someone from the outside!”  Maddie concluded, smiling.  “And even if it doesn’t work, it might be fixable!”

“Yes, of course…”  Vlad agreed, a little more somberly.  “But first, we must go see to Emma.  I refuse to leave her alone now that my own manor has become a slaughter house…”

The others had nothing to say to that and simply followed him, deeper into the mansion.

 

~*~

 

“Watch her head…” Jeremy pleaded, helping Maurice carry his wife into the freezer.  Mr. Foley bit back a bit of sarcasm that would have been drastically insensitive and complied, while his wife, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Jazz looked on.  Each person was armed with a kitchen knife, huddled in the corner farthest from the door.  

Sam had stopped crying now, and was staring emptily at the blade in her hand.

A gentle hand lay on her shoulder.  She looked over at Tucker, who gave her a feeble, if encouraging smile.  “It’s gonna be fine,” he told her, shaking her shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up.  “You’ll see.  I don’t know about that Masters guy, but if anything Mrs. Fenton is gonna find a way out of this!”

Jazz snorted, overhearing that.  “Yeah… my mom’s tough as nails.  In more than one way.”

“Still!”

To the remaining fathers of the group, Tucker’s voice echoed like it was far, far away from inside the freezer.  Maurice lay down the woman’s body on a rack meant for storing meat, feeling almost numb to it all; Jeremy sobbed dryly, folding his hands and whispering in prayer for the first time in years.  “Now… I lay me down to sleep…” he whispered.

Mr. Foley squeezed his shoulder sympathetically, and turned to leave.  

Then, slowly, he came to a stop.  He blinked… then, his eyes went wide in terror.

Where were the other bodies?

“I pray the Lord my soul to keep…” the other man’s voice echoed – falling away in Maurice’s ears as he turned, searching for the corpses of the butler and the cook.  They had been here!  Not even half an hour ago!  He’d placed the disemboweled butler right on that rack–!

_Snap._

Maurice froze at a sound like crackling bark.

“Guide us safely through the night…” Jeremy whispered.

Mr. Foley trembled like a leaf as he slowly turned his head, staring into the darkest part of the freezer.  Something moved there, crouched over a limp form lying on the icy floor… and that was when the smell reached him.  He hadn’t noticed it before, in the chill…

It was the same smell as the willow trees outside, oddly tranquil, and calming…

Only, it was mixed heavily with the stench of rotting flesh.

Glowing red eyes turned away from Lancer’s disassembled remains… and locked onto Maurice.

“And wake me with the morning light,” Jeremy finished.  Sniffing, he unclasped his hands and wiped at his eyes.  “Amen.”

SPLAT!

“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!”

“RUN!” Maurice yelled.

He grabbed Jeremy’s remaining arm – the other twitching on the freezer floor, immediately snatched by the spiked vine that had ripped it from his body – and yanked the screaming blond back into the kitchen.  Thorn-like teeth sank into the arm, gorging on it like a carnival turkey leg.  

Everyone in the kitchen quickly jumped to their feet as Maurice and a screaming Jeremy came tumbling out of the freezer.  Sam moved almost numbly to catch her father, staring at his severed arm like she couldn’t understand it.  Why was there so much blood…?

“Oh my LORD!”  Angela screamed, grabbing a kitchen towel and wrapping it around the bloody stump that was once Jeremy’s arm.  The man was no longer screaming, simply wailing in soft, sobbing gasps.  

“What on earth happened?!”

“One of those, those THINGS was in there!”  Maurice cried, slamming the freezer door shut and bolting it.  He turned and grabbed onto a nearby china cabinet and upended it in front of the door, barricading the way.  “It was eating the god damned BODIES!  Ripped his arm off like it was paper!”

“Oh my god…”  Val moaned, clutching her knife tighter.  “Oh my go–”

**BANG!**

“It’s trying to get in!”  Tucker cried, backing away from the door.  Maurice held his ground a little longer, butcher knife held out in front of him.

**BANG!**

The hinges gave with a loud groan.

“RUN!”

Everyone made a run for it, Jeremy dragging his daughter with him as he made a hasty retreat, almost slipping in his own blood.  Val and Jazz were ahead of the group, Angela and Tucker not far behind with Maurice bringing up the rear.

**BANG!**

**_CRASH!!_ **

The fridge door flew off its hinges and into the opposite wall, taking the china cabinet with it.  A dry, rasping, angry shriek filled the air.

Maurice booked it fast, sliding around a corner after the others as they all turned down a dark hallway.  He caught up with his wife and grabbed her arm, urging her to run faster.  Just then, Tucker stumbled in the dark, dropping his knife when he ran right into a side table.  He grunted in pain, doubling over, glasses nearly tumbling off his face.  Angela whirled around, eyes widening; immediately, she shook off Maurice’s hand and doubled back, grabbing her son and pushing him down the hall.

“Don’t stop, keep running!”  she screamed, falling in behind him.  “Don’t sto–!”

Squelch…

“Ah…”  Angela stopped dead in her tracks, a splash of blood appearing on her cheek.  Slowly, she looked down…

Sticking out of her gut was a long, thorny vine, the ashen grey of a willow trunk and as thick as a man’s forearm.

“ANGELA!”

“MOM!”

The vine curled up like a fist at Angela’s back, pulled back an inch, and completely eviscerated the woman – the force of its hooked thorns ripping her in two and painting the walls with red.  Her intestines uncoiled as they struck the carpet and swelled, pumping blood and half-formed feces onto the carpet; its stench filled the air in waves.  

Tucker could see his mother’s dark eyes wide open – still alive and filled with indescribable agony – but her diaphragm had been torn to shreds.  She couldn’t even scream, just lay there… waiting out those last eternal seconds until her heart stopped, and blood filled her lungs, but until the very end, she didn’t so much as break eye contact.  As if she was trying to say one last thing to him.

Then, the light faded from his mother’s eyes.

Tucker fainted, collapsing into the spreading pool of blood.  

Ashen claws gripped Mrs. Foley, dragged her off the floor, held her high, and squeezed.  Gore poured anew out of her steaming, mutilated corpse, dripping down over the shoulders of another monstrous creature.  

She was completely nude, more of a humanoid size than the last one but still over six feet tall.  Her hair was branches, sprouting dark black succulents, and twining into two tips, like horns.  Her bare feet each had a thorn that extended her arches, not unlike stiletto heels that grew straight out of one’s skin.  However, she was not made of flesh or mist, but unforgiving wood, and thorns, and thick, black sap – with a horrendous scar extending from the bottom of her jaw, straight down, to where human beings were naturally split – and from there did that horrific, bloody vine sprout.  

Screams split the air.  The tree-like monster continued to peacefully squeeze Angela’s remains dry over her head as Jeremy stumbled away, pulling a deadly silent Sam down another hallway.  Valerie dared to grab Tucker – drenched with his mom’s blood – out from under the monster’s feet, and fled for their lives; she snatched Mr. Foley and shoved him through a door.

Jazz run after them, trying to follow, but the door slammed in her face.  SLAM!  “NO!  LET ME IN, LET ME–!”

The woman creature lowered Angela’s top half, twisted her head off, and began to gorge on her insides.  “AHHHHHHHHHHHH PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE LET ME IN PLEEEEEEAAAASE!!” the redhead sobbed.  “I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!”

When the door didn’t open, Jazz pushed away from it and tore down the hallway, screaming and crying.  “MOM!  DAD!  ANYBODY!”

She felt like she couldn’t run fast enough to save herself – but before she knew it, she had left the horrific scene far behind.  She didn’t even know where she was going, but she just ran; taking turn after turn and pounding up any staircase she came across.  Eventually, she reached a dead end.  Jazz pounded her fists against the wall, not even registering that she had no idea where she was in the manor anymore, and was almost hyperventilating before she noticed a string dangling down from the ceiling.

The attic.  Breathing hard, Jazz jumped for it, no other goal in her mind but to get far, far away from the killers, those MONSTERS!  

Her fingers tangled in the string, and she pulled down the steps.  Jazz scrambled up into the dark, dusty, hot space – sobbing – and closed the trapdoor behind her.  She ducked behind a set of drawers that was layered in twenty years of dust and dead spiders.  There, she curled into a ball… and cried.


	3. Chapter Three

Jazz didn’t know how long she stayed there, but soon her tears ran dry, and all she could do was sit there and shake in her fear and exhaustion.

Then…

_“Mary Mary…”_

Jazz gasped silently, head popping up at the sweet, unnatural voice that reached her ears.  She wiped at the tear trails on her cheeks as she tried to see past the dark dust motes of the attic.

_“Quite contrary…”_

There was a soft light coming from the other side of the room.  Was that a window?

_“How does your garden grow…?”_

Slowly, Jazz climbed back up to her feet, eyes wide and enchanted by the beautiful voice.  She carefully made her way around boxes and antiques, almost entranced, to reach the window and the source of warm light.  And the singing…

_“With silver bells…”_

The light was getting brighter, a soft blue like sunlight over ice.  It gleamed against the glass of the large window, shining brighter than even the light of the full moon.

_“And cockle shells…”_

Jazz came to a stop, unable to move or breathe as the singer with the lovely voice like an angel, finally appeared before her.  

It was a creature with skin as pale as moonstone, and raven hair that floated around its head, as if it were submerged in water.  The creature seemed to be floating where it stood, but still seemed to be half a head smaller than Jazz herself.  It looked like the being was covered in some sort of silken cape, a light pink in color like a newborn pink pearl.  There was a single hand placed on the glass, fingers long and elegant, unearthly…

This creature… it was so beautiful, like nothing Jazz had ever seen or imagined before.

_“And pretty maids all in a row…”_

Jazz startled and took a step back as the being slowly turned to face her.  Underneath those flowing locks was a heart shaped face, plump, kissable lips, and the largest, brightest blue eyes she had ever seen.  They glowed with unlimited knowledge at her, big and round and strangely… strangely not unlike an insect’s eyes… nor a spider’s…

“Hello, Jasmine~”  it breathed, smiling softly at her like she was a favored child.  “Are you well?  They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

She shook her head slowly, unconsciously coming forward when it held out a long fingered hand to her, beckoning.  “I’m so glad…”

“Who…”  she faltered, swallowing past the lump in her throat.  “Who are you?”

“I am D’Any’Domhnulla, prince of the fair folk.”

Jazz blinked, star struck.  “P-prince?”

“Yes,”  he explained, leading her closer to the window.  “I am here, because four of the most vile and gruesome of fae have escaped my prison, and have found their way here.  It is All Hallow’s Eve, and that is the night the veil between our worlds is at its weakest.  They came here to feed and cause chaos…”

“So you… you’re here to stop them?  Right?”  Jazz all but pleaded, clinging to the hand that still held hers.  It was cold…

The prince turned to smiled at her, long lashes brushing his soft cheeks as he blinked.  “Of course I am.  I have a duty to my kind, after all.  It is my responsibility.  But…”

His smiled turned sad as he cupped her cheek, bright eyes swirling with remorse and… something else.

“I will need your help…”

The redheaded girl took a step back, shaking her head wildly.  “N-no, not me!  I’m only human, I can’t possibly help you!  Did you SEE those things?!  They rip humans apart like tissue paper!!  I c-can’t–!”

“You’re just scared.  Which is understandable, given the situation…” the fae prince sighed, shaking his head.  “But it can’t be helped.  You are a maiden of pure heart and intentions, only you can help me gather what I need to banish these creatures back to the pits!”

“P-pure of heart?”  Jazz whispered, flattered by the creature’s words.  “I… I can really help you?”

“Yes!  And by doing so, save the other humans!  But we must hurry.”

Long fingers pointed out the window to the dark sky.  “We only have until dawn…”

The girl bit her lip, still unsure and afraid.  But this beautiful, amazing being… this prince of the fairies and fae, he said he needed HER help, of all people!  If she could help him, help him save her parents and the others…

She had to try, right?  She was the only one who could!

“I’ll do it…”  she stuttered, before clearing her throat and saying it again with a stronger tone.  “I’ll do it, Prince Dea… Deea… Um… I’m sorry, your name…”

The prince laughed, voice like tinkling bells.  “Call me Danny, child~”

“Danny?”  she questioned, frowning.  “That’s a very… human name…”

“A little boy, many many years ago, gave me that name when I found him lost in the woods not far from these parts.  I find it… fitting~”

Jazz didn’t question it, assuming it to be something to do with the queerness of fae.  “Very well, Prince Danny… what must I do?”

Danny smiled at her, pleased with her eagerness.  “First, you must help me gather the elements from which these beasts sprung up.  They entered your world through the closest thing they could tie to themselves.  There are four.  I will take you outside to gather the first two.”

“O-o-outside?!”

“Don’t worry,”  he cooed, squeezing her hand gently as he lead her back towards the attic stairs.  “I will be with you the whole way, nothing will harm you…”

She swallowed thickly, unsure, but slowly opened the trap door with his encouragement.  He smiled as she slowly climbed down, the creature not far behind.

“Nothing will harm you, not while I’m here~”

 

~*~

 

Damon suddenly paused, turning back to look down the hall they had just vacated.  “Did you hear that?”

The others stopped, turning back to look at him curiously.  But then Maddie frowned, looking troubled as once again, an echoing sound reached their ears from down the twisting hallways.  “Screaming…”

“Something must have happened,”  Vlad guessed, brows furrowed in concern.  “We should go back!”

The others quickly agreed, turning around once more to go back the way they came.  But before they could get any further, the doors leading back into the main halls suddenly slammed shut in their faces.  

Jack reeled back, having been struck in the face by the large, oak doors.  “OW!  The hell…?”

He placed a large hand on the doors and pushed, trying to twist the nob with the other.  “It’s jammed!”

Damon joined him, both large men trying to force the doors back open.  But it was like pushing against concrete walls… they would not budge…

“We have no choice then,” Damon sighed, finally stepping back.  “We have to keep going…”

With reluctance, the four adults turned their backs, and proceeded down the hallway.

Meanwhile, Maddie gripped her new shotgun like her life depended on it – bringing up the rear behind Vlad and Jack.  She couldn’t stop thinking about it; the tension between the two men.  And if she had said it wasn’t her fault, then she would have been lying to herself.

In truth… she had always had a crush on Vlad Masters.  Even before he was rich, when they went to college together; he was brilliant, and resourceful, and a leader.  He inspired others and when he spoke, people listened.  But girls were always on his arm in college – even though he hadn’t been so handsome back then, he made up for it with his charm and brilliance, and apparently prowess in bed, if those girls had been telling the truth – unlike Jack, who had definitely been a looker, with barely enough electricity moving through his brain to power a lightbulb.  Still, she had dated him, trying to get Vlad to see that she was smart, that she was on his level!  That she deserved more than just a cute idiot in life!  She deserved better!  She deserved someone worthy of her genius, her love, her fury.  And that someone was Vlad!

But, she strung Jack along for far too long.  When Vlad had begun to move onto bigger and better things, he strayed away – to Europe, Russia, all over the world – making money and spinning that incredible genius into gold for himself and the women that came in and out of his life, and Maddie had panicked.  She was stuck in a run-down apartment in Amity Park, Illinois, repairing Jack’s horrifying attempts at inventions and fixing microwaves for spare cash!  She was twenty-two and pregnant, on the way to being a middle-class homemaker with a dumb boyfriend that wouldn’t commit!  That wasn’t what she wanted!  She wanted…!

She had wanted more…

So, Maddie had made a drastic decision.  She gave Jack an ultimatum; either marry her or break up.  Of course, Jack agreed to the former, hugged her, and sent out the wedding invitations.  Maddie triple-checked that Vlad was on the list… and nearly cried with relief when he happily RSVPed.

Then, the big day came.  

Maddie could still remember it like it was yesterday.  She had been pacing back and forth in her wedding dress – baby bump visible with the little life that would become her daughter – as she waited.  Finally, Vlad was pulled back there by Harriet Chin, one of the rather unenthusiastic bridesmaids.  Of course, like the wonderful man he was, he praised her beauty and for the first time in years, Maddie felt herself light up like a firefly for him.  She just wanted to rush to him, kiss him, beg him to take her away from this mediocre town and dull, average, stereotypical existence…

Still, she had held herself.  She glowed, accepting his compliments, and spun around for him.  She had joined him on the couch – basking in his warmth and the sound of his voice – as they talked.

_“I was there when the Packers just slammed through the defense!  Oh, it was amazing!  I jumped so high I fell off my seat and it made the front papers!  Hahaha–!”_

Until she couldn’t take it anymore.

_“Vlad.”_

_The young millionaire blinked at her tone.  “…Yes, Maddie?  What’s wrong?”_

_“I-I…”_

And it had all come out.  She had poured her heart out to him, there in her wedding dress, all that was on her mind – the way Jack irritated her, the way she missed Vlad when he was gone, how she wished she could have been one of those women on his arm.  How she wished this child in her womb could have been his.  Vlad watched her the whole time, his eyes growing wider and wider.

_At the end of it, Maddie was almost in tears.  “I-I’m sorry…” she whispered.  “You were just getting so far away from me… you’re going to be something amazing, Vlad, and I don’t want to be left behind!  Please…!”_

_She leaned forward – fingers tangling in his suit jacket – and kissed him._

_He had gone still.  He hadn’t moved, for a long time, as she took his hands and placed them on her waist.  In that moment, Maddie had almost hoped that he would agree.  They would run out of this place together, and Jack’s baby could be told a happy story about how she had a much better, more attentive, brilliant father than Jack could have ever been._

_Suddenly, Vlad had pulled away.  “Maddie…”_

_The young woman bit her kiss-swollen lips, wide violet eyes staring at him in fright…_

_Then, after a moment of hesitation, Vlad had reached forward, gripped the back of her neck, and kissed her in a way that made her toes curl and her panties go damp.  She had moaned his name none too quietly, fingers fumbling at his pants – when he moved them away, but placed his own hands on her hips; Maddie panted, eyes glazed with desire.  She leaned back, allowing him to slide his fingers up her skirt… and begin to rub…_

The rest of her wedding had been a blur of post-orgasmic pleasure.  They hadn’t even undressed, so she could only wonder what the real thing would have been like.  The glances Vlad gave her throughout the reception asked for patience, for goodwill.  She would have to take responsibility for her actions, but perhaps one day, they could find a way to work things out.  And oh, even though she was married, Maddie’s heart and body both hungered for more… even if she had to wait ten, twenty, thirty years.  She could put up with this idiot husband, fixing microwaving and making mac-and-cheese, anything.  As long as she had hope.

So of course THIS would happen!  Of course, when they finally met again, in the splendor that Vlad had created, it would be stained with blood, and tension from that moron Jack!

Maddie scowled at the carpet, brows furrowed.

Suddenly, at the same moment, all three of them felt a buzz in their skulls.  It was getting louder… and louder!  The men groaned, clutching at their heads as Maddie switched off the safety of her shotgun.  “IT’S HERE!” she yelled, pulled it up to her shoulder.

The zombie-like giant from the greenhouse smashed through a wall.  CRASH!

Tiny black eyes zeroed in on the barrel of the shotgun.  A flash of fright, then fury crossed them, but Maddie didn’t give it enough time to unleash its sonic attack.

She squeezed the trigger.

**BAM!**

 

~*~

 

“Dad…”

“C’mon, Sam, we have to k-keep m-moving…!”

“Dad.”

Jeremy collapsed to the floor, twitching and waving the stump of his arm in the air.  His daughter, smeared with his blood, watched emotionlessly as he gasped and struggled.  “Y-You… are th-the o-only thing I-I have left, y-you are going to LIVE… m-missy!!” he whispered, trembling.

Sam’s voice was dead.  “No.  No, I’m not…” she said.

She blinked emptily – and walked past her father, wandering aimlessly into the unknown.  “None of us are…”

“M-Missy!  SAM!  S-SAMAN…ANTHA Y-YOU G-G-GET B-B-B–!”

Reduced to nothing but stammering in his state of shock, Jeremy tried to drag himself after his daughter, even as she turned a corner and left him behind.  He didn’t realize that she was doing this because she couldn’t take it, couldn’t take the concept of watching him die, and left to try and preserve the memories of her friends and loved ones.  He didn’t realize any of it.  He just saw his daughter walking away from him… letting him bleed out all alone in a strange house, with monsters in the walls.  

“PleaaAAAAAAAAAAH!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Sam kept walking, zombie-like, as Jeremy’s pleas dissolved into a shapeless screech behind her.  Oblivious to the fact that he was still trying to drag himself after her.  She just kept going, not knowing… or caring… where she was going.

Before long, Jeremy lost track of her in the maze of halls and rooms.  His screams and sobs echoed back to him, sounding empty.

He was alone.

The man bit his lip in determination, even as tears of pain slipped down his cheeks.  He gripped his bleeding stump and – with titanic effort – dragged himself to his feet, and trekked on, trying to follow the path he felt Sam had taken.  He had passed her route many turns back, and was now far from reaching her… but he didn’t know that.  He paused in another set of halls, the ceilings high and creaky, old wooden pillars lined the way.

A strange, cool breeze suddenly passed him, ruffling his hair.  For a moment, he thought he saw a light…

_“Hmm hm hm hmmm hmm hm…”_

Jeremy froze, eyes widening in fright as a hushed, breathless voice reached his ears.  It was soft, likely feminine…

It was very pretty…

With a curious frown, the apprehension and fear slowly leaving him in unnatural ways, Jeremy began to follow the voice.  He stumbled as he walked, tripping over rugs and his own feet, but he pushed forward.  Even the pain felt like it was fading away.  The voice led him down hall after hall, past room after room.  Always humming…

_“Hmm hm hm hmmm hmm hm…”_

Oh, he knew that tune!  One of the maids used to sing it when Samantha was very little.  Ring Around the Rosie…

But… who was humming it now?  Here?  Where were they?  It was so beautiful…

He had to find them…

_“Hm hmmmmm…”_

The blond man stumbled even more as he picked up the pace, eyes blind to everything around him and the pain of his body far from his mind.  He just wanted to find that voice.  He HAD to find that voice.

The hall he turned down was a dead end, leading to a single door.  Yes… yes, it had to be coming from there!

_“Hm hmmmmm…”_

He rushed forward, slipping on something on the hardwood floor before he righted himself, gripping the handle tight.  He pushed the door open…

_“Hm hm hmm hmmmm…”_

The room was dark and smelled strangely of mold and mildew.  The only light in the room was from the large, open window, moonlight spilling in past the silhouette of the broken fountain.  He took a step in; deaf to the way the boards creaked under his feet, like they were old and rotten from rain.  He didn’t hear or see the water dripping off of every surface, dark and murky like swamp water.  He didn’t smell the dankness, the foul odor of water soiled fabric.  He didn’t notice any of it.

All he cared to notice, was the beautiful woman sitting alone on the velvet duvet, her face turned away from him toward the open window – gazing at the distant, broken fountain bubbling in the distance.  She was dressed in a simple white grecian gown, soaked sheer from the water she dripped with, showing off her voluptuous feminine curves to anyone around.  Inky black hair spilled down her back and pooled on the floor, seeming to blend in with the darkness there.

Surely… surely the voice was here!  Yes, she must have been singing to him, luring him away from the monsters.  She must be an angel!

Jeremy clumsily came forward, slipping on what he thought was nothing, never once noticing the dark, blackish sludge that trailed across the room…

“E-Excuse me?”

She didn’t respond.  Jeremy came closer, standing nearly right behind her.  He reached out a hand to place on her shoulder.  “E-E-Excuse me?  Who–?”

His voice left him.  Her skin was cold under his touch… clammy…

Slimy…

Her head turned.  Teeth just as large and sharp as a shark’s met him in a wide, frightening grin.  Solid black eyes gleamed up at him, reflecting his own horrified expression back at him like two dark mirrors.  Her face twisted as she laughed, a husky, heaving, wet sound that echoed in his ears like the wails of a drowning animal.  The human tried to step back away from her, only to trip over the train of her long white gown.  

“AHH!”

He hit the floor with a bang, body exploding with agony as he had landed on his severed arm.  He scrambled to try and get up, but his feet slipped in the sludge and water underneath him, halting his escape–!

WHUMP.

Jeremy cried out as a hand closed around his ankle, talon-like nails clawing at his flesh as the creature crawled after him.  He attempted to call out for help, but he was suddenly grabbed and forced onto his back, causing the air to push out of his lungs in a wheeze.  That crooning, wet, husky laugh met his ears once more as he tried to shuffle backwards, tried to pull himself out from under her.

But she was so fast.

Two sets of claws punched into his shoulders, making him bite his tongue and wail.  The force of his scream sent flecks of blood flying towards the ceiling, as she used the grip to drag herself up onto his body…

Two arms, low swinging breasts hidden by nothing, a skeletal chest and wide, bony hips…

There was nothing below that…

Jeremy blinked wide, horrified eyes up at this demon as she hissed, undulating on his body like a fish out of water.  Slick, grotesque sludge spilled over his hips and legs, drenching his lower half.  He didn’t want to think about what it could have possibly been, even if his mind had been clear enough to think.

Her mouth opened wide, blackish sludge dripping from her stretched lips, and revealing rows upon rows of teeth–!

“H-HELP ME!!”  Jeremy screamed, thrashing underneath her strong hold.  “SOMEBODY PLEASE, HELP ME–MMMGGGHHH!!”

Her mouth descended onto his, teeth punching into flesh and tearing away at his lower face like holiday ham.  His screams turned into gurgling, wet wails as she continued to devour him in the most horrifying of kisses.  Her tongue was like the skin off a shark, ripping into his mouth and slicing away at the sensitive skin inside.  A twist of her long tongue, and his own was torn free, blood slipping down his throat as he choked on it and the pain.  The beast cooed in pleasure as she took his tongue from his mouth, chewing on it like it was a treat.

“MMMGHHhhh!! Mgghhh…!”

His lips were gone, along with most of his lower face when her lips and teeth returned, digging into his skin and all the way down to the very bone.  There was a loud, foreboding crunch, followed by a muffled wail, before the only sounds in the room were that of dying gurgles and wet, juicy smacks.

Jeremy’s death was slow and very painful, body unable to move as the venom in her claws made him immobile.  He could only lay there and take her assault, drowning on his own blood and the black sludge she continued to pour down his throat.  It was vile and thick, like mud and swamp water and sulfur.  Blood pooled around them in an almost perfect ring, staining the water puddles red and even the sludge that dripped from her own body was beginning to change to a more vibrant, life bringing color…

She was sucking him dry, purifying her own body, sucking his very soul from his body with her lips and tongue and teeth…

SHLURP…

The last thing Jeremy thought about before he died, was his daughter.  Where was she?  Was she safe?  Please god, don’t let it end for her this way.

Don’t let it end for ME this way…

_CRUNCH…_

The last thing Jeremy saw before he died, were unforgiving, hungry, soulless black eyes…

 

~*~

 

Valerie covered her own mouth, stifling a gasp.  “Did you hear that…?” she whispered.

Mr. Foley shivered, shakily looking up at the young girl; Tucker was still unconscious, limp in his father’s lap.  The trio had taken shelter in an abandoned music room of some kind, hiding behind a grand piano.  Cold black ashes were the closest thing to life in the stone fireplace.  “It was probably the wind… or something…” Maurice whispered, hugging his son close.  Tears leaked down his face and disappeared into his moustache.  “Oh god, Angela… Angela…!”

Valerie grabbed at him.  “Mister Foley, c’mon–!”

“‘Come on’ for WHAT, Miss Gray?!” the man suddenly snapped.  Valerie recoiled, blinking in surprise as he dropped his son like a sack of bricks and stood up, waving his arms.  “Do you not understand?!  MY WIFE IS DEAD!  Ripped to PIECES by a… a MONSTER!  A monster that used her bisected corpse like a SHOWER SPONGE!  I-I can’t DO it, I can’t–!!”

He collapsed in on himself like a broken slinky and lay down next to his son, shivering.  “We’re all going to die here–!”

“We’re all going to die here…” came a dead voice.

The door swung open with a slow creak, and none other than Sam wandered into the music room.  Her lifeless purple eyes scanned the piano, the cold hearth – and didn’t even blink when Valerie straightened up.  “Sam!  Omigod, are you okay?!” she gasped.

The brown-skinned girl rushed to her and grabbed her hand.  “I heard sounds… like, gurgling– oh god, your skin is freezing!  Come on, hide with us!”

Sam yanked her hand out of Valerie’s grip.  “No,” she replied flatly.  “I’ll go see what that noise was…”

“W-What?!  But–!”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

The two girls looked at Mr. Foley, who kissed his son on the forehead, sniffed, and stood up, wiping his nose.  “I-I’ll go…” he told them, still trembling.  “You two are young.  If it is something, well… I’d rather it be me…”

He looked at Valerie.  “I-I’m sorry for snapping at you, Miss Gray, I just…”

The man was cut off as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.  “I’m so… SO sorry about Angela…” Valerie whispered, holding back tears of her own as she hugged Tucker’s dad.  His chest was far too slender – but she tried to picture that she was hugging her own father.  It gave her just an iota of reassurance.  But it was enough.  “We’ll make sure nothing happens to Tuck.  Be careful, okay?”

Maurice hugged her back with skinny arms.  “I will.”

He sniffed again and let her go with a small smile.  “You two better be here when I get back.  And you!”

He pointed sternly at Sam, who stared emptily back at him.  “You hide.  Don’t start getting these crazy ideas.”

No response.  

Maurice took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked back at his unconscious son.  His lips curved up at the sight of his face.  

Finally, he smiled, turned around, and left the room, his chest puffed out like a soldier off to battle.  “Well, here I go!  Look after Tucker, now!”

Valerie nodded uncertainly – but he was already gone.

She grabbed Sam again and yanked her behind the piano; this time, the goth let her.  And there, they waited.

~*~

Jazz rubbed her arms harshly, more a sign of fear and unease then the fact she was cold.  She was hidden among a cluster of willow trees where Danny had left her, telling her she would be safe here.

That had been a few minutes ago now…

She bit her lip, looking around nervously.  What was she even DOING out here?  How could she, a mere human, help a freaking prince of the fae stop these… these MONSTERS!  What could she possibly do?

“There you are~!”

Jazz jumped, almost screaming before a cool hand cupped her cheek and blue eyes filled her vision.  She instantly relaxed, scowling up at Danny unhappily.  “W-where have you been?!”

“Easy dear, you are safe.  I had to check in on the others in the manor, as well as get these.”

Danny held out a small velvet pouch.  The redhead took it after a moment of hesitation, peeking inside.  Four small crystal vials clinked against each other within, glittering under the moonlight.  She looked back up at Danny, brows furrowed.  “What do I do with them?”

“You will gather pieces of the birthplace of each fae, the place they emerged into this world, and store them in these vials.  Come…”

The prince turned and floated away from her, towards a cluster of young willows near the side of the manor.  “We will collect the bark of Spectra, first…”

“S-Spectra?”

“Spectra the Ravenous.”  Danny exclaimed calmly.  “She is considered to be both a beautiful and wise fae in our realm…”  the fae laughed, winking at Jazz.  “Her cleverness is what makes her so dangerous.  More so than her ruthlessness, I should say!”

The prince turned back around, humming to himself.  “She is a creature of earth, one of the oldest of our race!  And she is always hungry.  Hungry for youth, beauty… and blood.”

Jazz stumbled over a fallen tree branch, suddenly very pale and nauseous.  “The… the creature that was… eating the bodies… Misses Foley…”

“Her appetite is insatiable.  Ah, here we are~”

Jazz looked up to find that Danny had stopped before the largest tree, far older than the others around it.  It was tall, almost leaning against the marble of the manor with its enormous weight.  And also unlike the other trees, it looked like it had been struck by lightning, the middle split right in two.

No… no that wasn’t right.  It looked more like something had burst out from INSIDE the tree, breaking its way out into the garden…

And through the open window leading inside the manor on the second floor…

“This is where she came from, her birthplace into this world.  You need to break away a piece of the bark from the inside, and place it in a vial.”

“R-right…”

Jazz carefully set down the pouch and pulled out one of the vials, carefully making her way to the large, dead tree.  It was only as she grew closer, that she smelled the rotten and foul air around the dark trunk.  Blood…

The tree was bleeding…

“It is only the residue left behind by her arrival,”  the fae prince informed her, resting a calming hand on her back.  “Go on, it’s safe.”

Face twisted in disgust and determination, Jazz did as instructed and reached into the gaping wound in the trunk of the great willow.  The bark within was soft and moist, like wet moss.  She gagged as a piece came away so easily in her hand, stumbling back away from the tree and putting the stuff in the vial without even looking at it.  She wiped her sticky hand along the back of her skirt, turning away from the tree entirely.

“That… was most unpleasant.”

“You did VERY well, Jasmine.”

She looked up from where she had put the vial once more back in the pouch, startled.  “I… I did?”

Danny smiled, nodding as he lead her away from the tree.  “Yes, very, very well~  I could not have done this without you!  Now come, you must collect water from the fountain next.”

“The fountain,”  Jazz murmured, quick to follow with much surer steps then before.  “Who um.. who came from the fountain?”

“Desiree the Lustful,”  he replied, voice almost somber as they drew closer to the fountain of broken marble and blood.  “She preys on the men of this world, blaming them for the loss of her legs.”

“Her… her legs?”

“Yes,” his voice dropped as he spoke, almost somber.  “She was once a beautiful fae in our realm, and she danced for not only the royalty of our kind, but those of the mortal realm as well.  Long ago, so long ago there is no real date or time to give you, child, a queen grew jealous of Desiree’s magic and dancing and ease of bespelling men… only, when the royal guards came, they came at the wrong time.  The beautiful girl was eating her suitor~  

“So, she had her legs cut off with an iron sword.  Not a soul stopped her, not even any of Desiree’s most favored male mortals.  She crawled back to our realm, swearing she would devour all of mankind…”

For the briefest moment, Jazz thought she heard Danny’s voice change, to something thick and heavy… dark…

“Desiree, is not the forgiving sort…”


	4. Chapter Four

BAM!  

Maddie emptied the second barrel into the creature’s leg.  The enormous monster roared and limped away as quickly as it could – its gaseous true form dissolving into the air at an alarming rate.  She grabbed at the spare ammo in her jacket, trying to get it into the gun.  “That’s right, run away!!” she yelled.  “Youuuuuu…!”

Vlad lay a hand on her arm.  “Maddie!”

“What?!”

“It’s gone…”

The woman blinked and looked up.  Sure enough, they were alone in the dusky hall once more.  “Oh… w-well, we should go after it!” she told him, gripping his arm in return and leaning in urgently.  “It will just come after us or someone else!”

Vlad chuckled quietly.  “I highly doubt that, my dear.  You blew several holes in it.  Wherever it went to skulk, it’s safe to say it will be skulking there for a while.”

She looked unconvinced, eyes lowered as she kneaded his sleeve between her fingers.  The silver-haired man frowned – worried – then, he turned to Jack and Damon, who were still rubbing at their heads after the monster’s roar.  “Jack, Mister Gray?” he asked.  “My office is just down the hall.  If you two could head to the security room, down that way, and check to see if the cameras are still functioning, that might aid in our search for the others.  Once Maddie and I have retrieved Emma, we’ll meet you there.  Alright?”

“W-Wait, why do you get to go with Maddie?” Jack snapped, brows furrowed.

Vlad looked at him exasperatedly, and Maddie’s hackles went straight up.  “Jack Fenton, you REALLY think this is the time to be asking who I go with?!” she shot back.  The tall man shrunk in on himself at her scolding tone; she wasn’t even trying to hide her animosity towards him now.  “Just go check the cameras!  Find Jazz!”

Maddie huffed, grabbed Vlad’s hand, and pulled him down the hall, leaving her husband behind.  

Once they were out of earshot… she huffed, squeezed his hand just once, and let go reluctantly.  “…I’m sorry you had to see that…”

Vlad raised his brows at her as she went on.  “It’s just… we’ve had SO many fights…” Maddie confessed, running her fingers through her hair.  “The last fifteen years have been rough, actually…”

“Fifteen?”

The billionaire’s expression contorted with worry.  “Madeline, were you really NEVER happy?” he asked quietly.

“I… I don’t know, I suppose there was a bright moment or two here or there.  Jazz is such a smart girl, and Jack– well, you know how the saying goes, a blind mouse can find some cheese every once in a while.  So… ‘never’ is a strong word, I guess.  But I just…”

She hesitated, stealing a glance at his expression.  “I’ve missed you…”

Vlad’s face was impossible to read as he looked ahead.  

Maddie felt her spine straighten, almost indignant.  “Did… Did you really FORGET?” she hissed.  The woman rounded on him, forcing him to stop.  Vlad stared at her in surprise.  “Did you FORGET my wedding day?  What you DID to me, on that couch in the back room?!  Huh?!”

“Maddie, I–”

“Because I’ve never forgotten!” she whispered hotly, angry tears welling in her eyes.  “I never forgotten… not for TWENTY YEARS.  I’ve always loved you, and I know I made so many mistakes with Jack, leading him on, trying to make you jealous.  It was all for you!  It was a mistake!  And I’ve spent twenty years living that life!  I don’t know what you meant by those looks at my wedding, but I thought it meant that one day you might make your move, that you would try to make it work!  And… oh, Vlad…!”

She pressed herself into his space, starving for his approval and affection.  “I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry about all of this–!”

Suddenly, Maddie felt two big hands cup her cheeks, turning her face up to his.

Vlad kissed her.  Hard.

A surprised gasp escaped her lips – and then everything else was gone.  Maddie moaned his name, kissing him back, wrapping her leg around his waist as she felt him touch her hips and pull them fast to his own.  “Ah…!  Mmmmm… Vlad… ah…”

“I don’t know what’s happening here…” Vlad breathed between kisses.  His hands came down, sliding into her pants.  “There’s so much death…”

Pleasure bloomed between her legs.  Maddie’s head fell back.  “Ahh…”

“But if we die tonight… I want to go with the taste of you on my lips…”

Maddie dragged his mouth back to her own, bucking eagerly against his fingers as he reached behind her; they had arrived at his office while she had been talking, but now the only sounds were their panting breaths and the soft, warm squelch that met Vlad’s ears.  “Ohhh…!” she gasped, feeling those big fingers press hard.  “Oh~!”

He pulled his hands away.  She buried her face in his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to carry her with one hand while he typed in the key code.  Vlad opened the door, brought them both inside, and closed it behind him.

There was a soft impact.

_“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”_

Then… deadly silence.

 

~*~*~

 

On the other side of the house, Jack and Damon peered into the security room.  It was a small place, with about ten feet of walking space before a wall of monitors; and every single one of them was black.

“Ugh… the video cables were cut,” Damon muttered.

Jack cocked his head.  “How do you know that?”

“I was a security guard before I joined the police force.  You gotta know the ins and outs of the equipment,” the other man told him, leaning down under the control panel.  “Let me see what I can–”

SLAM!

Damon smacked his head on the underside of the panel as the door slammed open behind them. “OW!”

Jack whirled, fists up–!

And froze at the sight of Vlad in the threshold.  His eyes wide and wild, sweat and blood dripping off his hands; his hair was loose, disheveled… like he’d just escaped a fight.  Maddie’s shotgun dangled on his fingertips.  “Th– There’s…!” he rasped.

His knees gave out under him.  Jack darted forward, their quarrel instantly at the back of his mind, and caught his friend.  “Vladdy!  Hot damn… what happened to you?!” he hissed.

“Maddie… she’s…”

“Maddie?!  What’s wrong with Maddie?!”

Jack looked around, his stomach cold and heavy with the realization.  “W-Where is she–?!”

“Taken…” Vlad swallowed, breathing heavily.  “I-I saw it… it headed… towards the library…”

The silver-haired man shakily stood, pulling at Jack’s arm.  “But… we have to go now…!  It has her…!!” he gasped.  

Jack’s eyes narrowed in fury and determination.

He took the shotgun from Vlad, pumped it, and ran out the door.  “Nobody takes my wife!  Let’s go kick some honey buns!!” he roared.  Vlad stumbled after him, shutting the door behind them; Damon finally disentangled himself from the wires, turned–!

But now, he was alone.

Damon swallowed.  “Oh god…” he whispered.

After a moment, he ducked back under the control panel, fiddling with wires and breakers.  He didn’t know where the library was, but if he could get these cameras working they wouldn’t be blind anymore!  He could find who was alive and meet them!  He just had to work quickly… and hope nothing else opened that door!

 

~*~

 

Sam and Val looked up from behind the piano with a start at the faint scream.  It echoed all around them, distant, like a cry from the very house itself.  Sam blinked slowly, seemingly unaffected, but Valerie was clearly unnerved.

“What… what was that?”

“Another victim, most likely.”  

“God, Sam, don’t TALK like that!”

“Mmm…”

Both girls looked down at Tucker as the boy groaned, eyes slowly blinking open.  He looked confused and disoriented, but anyone would after the spill he took.  He moaned, reaching up to rub his head and slowly sit up.  Val helped him up off the floor, handing him his glasses without a word.

“What… what happened?”

Val shared a look with Sam.  She frowned when she found no sympathy or support from the girl, and turning away to smile shakily at Tucker.  “I’m glad you’re up again.  We’re um, hiding.  Your… your dad went to get help.”

“My dad?  Then what about… my…”

Green eyes suddenly went unfocused and Tucker turned sickly pale once again.  “My mom… m-mom… oh god, mom!”

“Shhh!  Shh, I know, I know, I’m so sorry,”  Val stuttered out, reaching out to place a hand on his arm.  “But we need to stay quiet!  We just have to wait here till your dad comes back!”

“If he comes back.”

“Sam!”

The goth girl stood up suddenly, not looking back once as she walked towards the doors out of the music room.  “He’s been gone too long.  I’m going to look for him.”

“Sam, wait– SAM!”

Val quickly climbed to her feet, running after the girl.  She paused at the door, looking back at Tucker with wild eyes.  “Y-you stay here!  Okay?  Just stay hidden!  I’ll be right back!”

Before the boy could reply, the girls were gone, door clicking shut behind them.  He whimpered, drawing his knees up to his chest and burying his face in them as he suddenly broke down.  Sobs filled the room as he cried for his mom, who he never even got to say goodbye to, who was ripped apart right before his eyes.  He cried for his dad, who he realized he might never see again, heart sinking in his chest.  And he cried for himself, fear fogging his mind and blurring the world around him.

As he cried, he never once noticed the small fire slowly sprouting up from the ashes of the fireplace.  It was small at first, barely a spark, but it grew.

And grew…

Soon, a crackling fire lit up the room, washing it in a warm, cozy light.  Tucker sniffed, barely even noticing…

Then… the flames began to twist and dance on their own, folding back in on each other and spreading out again, summoning volume to itself from the ashes.  Slowly, the color began to change from reds and yellows, to a sickly green, growing brighter and brighter until the flames blazed blue…

Icy blue, like hellfire…

The blaze twisted and shuddered and spasmed, the smell of sulfur filling the air as it suddenly leapt free of the fireplace, ash and smoke and flames curling and morphing in the air, forming into something else.

In a matter of moments, the flame from the fireplace had vanished.

The only flame in the room now stood in the form of an alluring, curvaceous woman.  Her nude body was made of white ash and soot, glowing with heat, her long hair fluttering around her in bright, sapphire flames.  With a shudder, the ash on her back broke away to reveal bat-like wings of smoke and blue flame.  Her fingers were long and clawed and her lower legs bent back oddly, like a bipedal beast.

Her glowing eyes snapped to the piano as the boy’s soft sobs reached her ears.  A smile spread across her face, just as one of the windows blew open, bringing in the outside wind.  The lights went out…

_“Come little children… I’ll take thee away…”_

Tucker raised his head, sniffling softly as he frowned.  Did he hear something?

_“Into a land of enchantment…”_

Singing… Who was singing?  Who would sing at a time like this…?

_“Come little children… The time’s come to play…”_

But… it was really pretty…  Who… who was singing?

Tucker slowly rose to his feet, eyes glazed over as he slowly stumbled out from behind the piano.  His eyes immediately zeroed in on the only light source in the room.  What… what was that?  F-fire?

_“Here in my garden of shadows…”_

No… no, it was light.  Warm, welcoming light in this manor of darkness.  It beckoned to him, almost crooning in a way, flickering and fluttering… was it dancing?

Tucker stumbled forward.

_“Follow, sweet children… I’ll show thee the way…  through all the pain and the sorrows…”_

Yes… yes, if Tucker just reached the light, everything would be better!  He would be safe with the light, loved, cared for.  Everything would be alright!

_“Weep not, poor children… for life is this way…”_

A beautiful face appeared in the flames, smiling sweetly at him as arms opened wide for an embrace.  Tucker reached out…

_“Murdering beauty and passion…”_

And found himself ensnared in arms made of iron and heat, burning the clothes off his back and setting him ablaze.  Tucker screamed, the spell broken as he was met with the sharp smile of the devil that had him, a tongue of flame slipping past her lips and sliding into his own open mouth.  He screams turned into wails as his flesh gave under the scorching heat, burning and melting, and flaking away, turning to ash…

The flames grew brighter, fueled by his screams and pain and blood, his body the kindling…

His screams finally stopped.

By the time the girls returned to the room – drawn there by his sudden shouts and the bright lights of fire – they were too late.  The creature of fire and brimstone stood before them, gently swaying to a tune they could not hear, as it cradled a burning skeleton to itself like a lover.

The broken glasses on the floor were their only clue.

Sam swallowed thickly.

She turned to leave.  Valerie, on the other hand, was far faster.  The brown-skinned girl gasped – tears bursting forth – but she knew better than to scream by now.  She grabbed Sam’s hand and dragged her down the hall, stifling her sobs.  She had promised Mr. Foley they’d protect him!  They left him alone for one minute!!  HOW MANY OF THESE MONSTERS WERE THERE?!

…Maybe Sam was right…

Dashing away her tears, Valerie grabbed the handle to another door, almost unable to turn it, she was shaking so badly–!

And all at once, the door burst open in a rush of water.  

Valerie shrieked as cold, slimy liquid rushed out into the hallway, soaking their shoes and socks through.  Even Sam took a step back in surprise.  As they did, two messy bodies rolled out with the sludge; bones clicked, teeth gleamed, intestines squished…

Then, they rolled face-up.  Sam’s knees gave out, dumping her into the wastewater.

Jeremy Manson and Maurice Foley were far too recognizable.  Their jaws had been stretched, broken, and torn off… what was left of their tongues flopping freely against their necks… and their eyes rolled slightly up in their skulls, pupils swollen and black in death.

“…D-Dad…?”

“Omigod, Sam, we have to get OUT OF HERE!”

Sam opened her throat, screaming.  “DAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!”

Before Valerie could grab her, the goth was up and running down the hall, screaming bloody murder.  “SAM!” she yelled.  She ran after her.  “SAM!!”

The blue, burning fae left the music room and – spotting the two girls – flew after them, arms outstretched.

 

~*~

 

“DAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!”

Jazz froze, turning wide eyes towards the second floor of the manor.  “… Sam?”

“We must keep going.”

The girl turned to look at Danny, once more returning after he had gone ahead, making sure the way was safe for her.  She clutched the vials close to herself, the bloody water sloshing in the one she filled at the fountain.  The sleeves of her shirt were stained pink…

“But… but what if she’s–?”

“She’s alive.  If you wish for her to remain that way, you need to do as I say,” Danny explained, leading her to an open window back inside.  He glanced at her, eyes wide and unblinking.  “You want to save them, don’t you?  You’re the only one who can…”

“R-right… of course…”

Danny nodded once and floated inside, urging her to follow.  She carefully placed the pouch inside under the windowsill, and then as quietly as she could, she climbed in.  The windows were high, and she grunted as her knees hit the marble floor.  She whimpered in pain, but was quick to grab the pouch once more and follow after the prince.  He waited for her at the doorway, leading out into the hall.

“I don’t sense them… there is no one near.  Quickly, follow me.”

Jazz hesitated a moment, hesitant to trek through the dark maze that was this mansion from hell.  But, if she wanted to save everyone, she had no choice…

Danny lead her down hall after hall, the girl quickly losing her way as they went.  How did he know where to go?

“Brimstone,” the prince suddenly said, his nose to the air.  “Can you smell it?  We are nearing the third birthplace.”

Jazz remained silent, eyes straying down one hall as they passed.  The floor there was wet, the air foul…

“Keep close.”

“Y-yes…”

At the end of a long hall was an open door, flickering light reflecting off the walls from within.  Danny beckoned her to enter.  She saw no need to question, only hoping that this was their destination so that they could move on.

The smell of burned meat hit her like a wall the moment she stepped into the room.

“O-oh my  _GOD!_ ”

On the floor lay Tucker’s burned husk of a body, blackened and crumbling in places, like nothing more than a used piece of firewood.  Jazz wouldn’t have even known it was him, if it weren’t for the pair of broken glasses beside his body, and the scrap of red fabric from his beret that lay beside the black husk.

Jazz gagged, whirling around and promptly heaving her guts out on the burnt carpet.  She clutched the wall, trying so hard not to fall to her knees as she threw up all that was in her stomach.  Acid burned in her throat as she ran out of fluid to heave…

“Jasmine…”

The girl looked up, tears in her eyes.  Danny stood before, mildly sympathetic, but urgent.  “There is nothing you can do for him now, Jasmine.  But the others, you can still save.  We must hurry.”

She looked at him, almost uncomprehending, before finally nodding.  She straightened up and wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve, forcing herself not to cry.  Oh, Tucker…

It just wasn’t fair…

Danny lead her over to the fireplace, now full of cold ashes.  “Ember the Envious, the songbird of the Underground,”  he explained.  “She rises from ashes, bringing brimstone and hellfire with her as she seeks her lost voice.  Her envy for touch and for, well, anyone’s voice really, causes her to burn alive all who walk into her embrace.”

“Her lost… voice?”

“She is mute,” the prince said, face blank.  “She once had the most beautiful voice in all of the fae realm.  It was taken from her.  She was driven mad.”

Jazz blinked, once more glancing back at Tuckers body.  “I… I see…”

“Collect the ashes, Jasmine.”

The girl did as she was told, no more hesitation.

 

~*~

 

“L-left, Jack!  LEFT!”

The man barely hear Vlad, running so far ahead that the other could hardly keep up, only able to chase after him and shout out directions, hoping that nothing else had hear them.  Jack was blind to anything else himself, focused solely on reaching their destination and finding his wife.

“There!  The double doors!”  Vlad called as they skidded around a corner, raking his hair back.  “B-but wait!  We should be quiet–!”

BANG!

Jack kicked the doors open, shotgun held tight to his shoulder as he walked in, peering into the large dark room.  The only light in the two story room came from the ceiling high windows, moonlight spilling in in a soft, white haze.  

It was utterly silent… still…

“Hmmmm…” Jack muttered, squinting around the library.  Vlad came up beside him, panting in exhaustion.  “Keep on your toes, V-man.  It could be ANYWHERE…”

Vlad straightened, finally catching his breath as the other man moved further into the room, and followed at a distance, eyes flicking around the dark walls.  The shelves were double-sided, and all in rows in the middle of the room.  In the eerie silence, one could picture anything hiding around the corner…

“…Jack.”

“Hmm?”  Jack hummed in acknowledgment, not once taking his eyes off of his surroundings.  “What?  Do you see something?”

“It’s… about Maddie.”

The big man froze a moment, frowning.  “What about her?”

Vlad took a deep breath, eyes lingering on his friend’s broad back.  “…Back in college… you know how I had a few girlfriends?” he asked.  “But we only ever dated for a few weeks, a few months at most…?”

Jack frowned deeper.  “What does this have to do with Maddie?”

“…I always told you that they moved away, or broke up with me… but that was never the case.”

The billionaire shuddered, hugging himself.  “They disappeared.  Their parents came asking ME where they went.  I didn’t know, until one night…”

Jack stopped, blinking back at Vlad.  

“Her screams woke me up…”

Vlad met his friend’s eyes, a haunted memory shining from deep inside.  “These things have been following me, for so long…” he told him.  “They’ve been taking anyone I became affectionate with, for y-years!  And then… back in the greenhouse when we went back to fetch Mr. Sanchez’s body, there was a moment when…”

_“I can’t BELIEVE you!”_

_“M-Me?”_

_Not an hour before, under the dim lights of the greenhouse, Jack whirled on Vlad furiously.  “You know my marriage hasn’t been the best, and now you’re just… getting all cuddly with Maddie?!  I can’t believe you!”_

_Vlad stared warily between Jack and the shotgun.  “Look, old chum, I…”_

_“You know what, SAVE IT!  I don’t want to hear it!”_

_The silver-haired man glanced around them, almost hoping to see the shadow of something much larger.  But nothing came.  Taking a deep breath, Vlad looked back at Jack.  “Look… I know you’re upset with me… and I’m sorry you and Maddie are unhappy,” he had lied evenly, but sounded genuine as anything.  “You know I have always supported you.  It’s just… it’s been a horrifying night, Jack.”_

_He looked up at his old friend, fear in his eyes.  “I was scared.  I didn’t mean anything by it.  I promise, it won’t happen again.”_

In the present, Vlad gnawed the inside of his cheek – glancing worriedly at the carpet – then back up at Jack.  “I meant what I said,” he told him.  “You and Maddie were my best friends.  These creatures have taken everything from me, anyone I tried to get close to… I was scared for you two the very most.  And back then, I was so afraid you were going to…”

The man gestured loosely at Jack’s shotgun.

Jack looked down at the weapon…

Then, after a moment of hesitation, he gripped the muzzle and held it out to Vlad.  The other man stared down at it in disbelief, then back up at Jack’s trusting blue eyes.  “It’s okay, V-man,” Jack said, smiling apologetically.  “I know you were scared.  I was, too.  I trust you to watch my back.”

Vlad paused…

Then laughed, sniffed, and took the weapon.  “That means a lot, Jack.  I will… and not just because I’m a better shot than you are,” he joked weakly.

“HA!  Well, maybe a little!”

The two men rounded the corner of the next bookcase – and froze.

“What… in the world…”  Vlad breathed, hands shaking as he gripped the gun tighter.  Jack’s eyes narrowed, studying the huge, gleaming thing before them.

“What could have made something like this…?”

There, strung between the shelves, was a silver spiderweb… at least fifteen feet wide and ten feet tall, glittering in the moonlight.  The web grew thicker and thicker the deeper it went into the shelves, much like a wolf spider’s nest – more of a glittering white burrow than a web.  And at the very center of the silky, sticky strands… was a human sized cocoon.  

Vlad’s eyes widened and he pointed a shaking finger towards it, face draining of color.  “… Maddie…”

“Maddie?!  You mean she–?!” Jack’s face contorted in rage and horror, not wanting to believe what Vlad was saying.  But if Maddie was in a cocoon, wrapped up and stored in a web, then that must mean she was alive, right?  Kept away for later?

He forced himself to believe that.

“Hang on, Maddie!  I’m gonna get you out of there!”

Jack stumbled forward, hand raised to push away the spider’s silk in his way… only for the strands to pass through his hand like a hot knife through butter.  

Three fingers hit the hardwood floor.  

Whump!  Bump.  Thump.

“GA-AHHH!!”

Jack screamed in pain, stumbling back and clutching his bleeding hand to his chest.  “OH MY GOD, AHH–!”

His screams cut off as a clicking, rattling coo filled the ear.  A dark shadow moved near the back of the nest-like web…

“JACK, LOOK OUT!”

Jack whirled to look.  

The shotgun went off.  KABOOM!

 

~*~*~

 

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“SAM, NO!”

Valerie sprinted down the hall after Sam, feeling the heat of the blazing, fiery fae on her back as it pursued them.  Her heart felt like it had been ripped in two!  The staff, Sam’s parents, all the Foleys… at least nine people slaughtered ruthlessly in a matter of hours!  She’d never seen a person die before tonight… and now they were running for their lives from the same monster that killed Tucker…!

She wouldn’t let Sam be next!

Valerie grabbed at the hysterical girl, only managing to hit her fingertips as they went pounding through the halls.  “Where are you GOING?!  SAM!”

Suddenly, they turned a corner and moonlight struck them, flowing in through a line of windows – dim and turning scarlet, as if a blood moon were ascending into the sky.  They were back at the front of the house.  Valerie staggered at the sudden change, and that cost her.

But when Sam reached the end of the hall, next to the french doors that led to the balcony… she stumbled to a halt, and froze.

From the shadows, the tree monster staggered.  Red eyes focused on the girls. 

Sam gasped quietly, taking one step back, then another as Valerie caught up with her – the older girl’s cries to flee falling on deaf ears.  Slowly, with the creaking and snapping of bark… the scar on the monster’s belly opened, almost drunkenly clumsy… and great teeth unfolded from inside.  Its head hung back, its legs displaced, as if whatever spine or pelvis it possessed had parted with a gristling pop.  Its long, eviscerating vine unfurled from deep inside, slapping to the carpet… The red fibers snapped off on its thorns as it lifted up…

Rearing, like a cobra’s head…

And the monster charged down the hall.

Sam and Valerie screamed as the flaming siren rounded the other side, flying right for them.  They grabbed each other’s hands, threw open the french doors, and without a second thought – hurled themselves off the balcony and thirty feet straight down onto the front steps.  Valerie’s left leg broke into three pieces on impact.  Her head struck the railing, her leg gave under her, and she went sprawling.  Sam hit just the wrong way, and her neck snapped like a toothpick; her eyes rolled back in her head, mouth open in shock…

Both of the dark fae looked over the balcony railing at the motionless, bleeding bodies on the ground.

Ember’s flames crackled in displeasure.  

Spectra – however – sealed her body back up, and grinned with her thorny fangs.  She leapt over the balcony as well, landing hard enough to snap more of Sam’s bones; she knelt down to bury her fangs into the corpse, ripping into it, dipping her claws into it, and applying gore all over her face like it was the finest anti-wrinkle cream.  Ember growled in distaste beneath the spectrum of human hearing.

Behind the burning fae, heavy footsteps announced Skulker’s arrival.  The hulking, misty creature limped onto the balcony; he took notice of Ember, chattering his jaws and borrowed tongue at her.  His body was newly repaired, with sections of fresh, bloody skin.  He had removed them earlier from Lancer and Hopson, just in case – and it had turned out to be a good idea.  

Skulker continued to chatter at her, moving closer.  Ember turned up her nose.  When he persisted, she flicked a small gout of flame at him… then she hesitated.

The fiery monster peered down over the balcony at Spectra and her meal.  

She turned to Skulker, snapping her fingers at him and pointing.  

The big brute was happy to please, bustling back into the house, down the stairs, and out onto the porch; while Spectra was busy taking Sam apart, Skulker grabbed Valerie’s good leg and dragged her body back into the house.  There was no sense in letting the blood monster ruin all the good bodies.  They’d store it, save that corpse for later.

Ember looked up, her flames burning brighter in anticipation at the reddening moon.  She had arrived last, it seemed.  It was almost time…

 

~*~

 

Damon stared at the sole, fuzzy image on the monitor, of his daughter’s broken corpse being dragged down the hall.

He had gotten one camera working.  And that was the first thing he had seen…

“M-Mister Gray…?”

The man slowly turned around, feeling like his head was stuffed with cotton… only to see Jasmine Fenton in the open doorway.  Her image smeared in his vision, streaks of color bleeding through each other like a ruined watercolor painting.  First his wife… now his child…

“God… where does it end…?” Damon whispered.  Tears slipped down his cheeks.

“Mister Gray… where are my parents?”

Jazz’s voice shook slightly as she entered the room, looking over Damon’s shoulder at the fuzzy video feed.  She hadn’t seen what he had, but she could only assume, by his reaction, that it was bad…  really bad.  She looked around the empty room, praying that her parents would simply appear from a dark corner or… or SOMEWHERE, anywhere!  She had been promised they were alive, that they were okay.  But she thought that meant they were still with Damon, but why was he all alone?!

“S-sir?  Where are my–?” she started to repeat.

“We need to get out of here,”  Damon suddenly said, voice hoarse as he stood up from the chair and grabbed her wrist, yanking her out of the security room.  There was one child left.  He would save her, at all costs.  “We need to leave this place.  NOW.”

“Wh-what?!”  Jazz cried out, protesting.  “But my parents!  Th-the others!  I’m not leaving without them!”

“Jasmine, listen to me!!”

“N-no, let me go!”

Damon struggled to hold onto the frantic girl, thinking she was simply having a melt down over everything that had happened.  And honestly she was.  Jazz had used up all her emotional strength, trying hold back all her fear while helping the fae prince.  But now, she was alone and she still needed to help Danny send all these monsters back and Damon was taking her the wrong way!  “No, you h-have to let me go!  I have to help them!  I’m the only one who can!”

“Jasmine, listen to yourself!”  Damon yelled, trying to grab onto her other wrist, but she kept that arm away, clutching a velvet pouch to her chest.  “We need to get out of here!  There is no one left!  WE ARE THE ONLY ONES LEFT!”

“You’re wrong–!”

Suddenly, Jazz went very still, eyes wide in horror as she looked over the man’s shoulder.  She slowly raised a finger, pointing back down the hall.  “S-sir…”

The smell of brimstone filled his nostrils.

Damon shoved Jazz away and behind him, whirling around to see the demoness fae of fire grinning at them from down the hall.  Blue hellfire slowly began to spread, the dry old wood of the manor lighting up like kindling…

Her wings flapped once, twice…

“RUN!!”

The two humans turned and took off down the hall, running as fast as their weary bodies could take them.  The halls blurred together and Jazz realized they were running back the way she had just come.  A dead end.

She screamed and turned back around, trying to turn down another hall.  Damon’s fingers grazed her arm as he tried to stop her, then turned and followed her instead, the flames catching up with them quickly.

Too quickly.

“Jasmine, keep running!”  Damon cried, slowing down to turn and face Ember with a resigned expression.  Her mouth opened in a silent scream of victory as she flew towards him.  “Don’t look back!  Just keep running!”

“DAMON!!”

The man went up in flames.

Then, another creature sprung from the shadows, grabbing onto him and sealing her mouth over his.  Damon was unable to scream as pain ripped through his body, black sludge filling his lungs, then a vine covered in hooked spikes punched through his gut.  Blood poured onto the fire, extinguishing an ugly splotch of it in a boiling gout of stinking smoke; the flaming fae hissed in outrage and attacked the two females that had attempted to steal her prey, the inferno growing higher and higher with each flap of her wings.  Ember’s jaws opened in fury, the blaze spreading faster and faster through the manor as she crouched low over Damon’s body, protecting her prey from the other two hungry females.  

Out of the corner of her eye, Jasmine spotted a pair of beady black eyes fixed on her.

The smell of rancid meat filled her nose.

The girl whimpered, for a single irrational moment thinking she could save the man, but knew deep down she couldn’t.  She quickly took a step back, then another, clutching the pouch of velvet to her chest as she tried to remain silent.  She hoped against all hope that the fourth monster had not truly seen her and was just as distracted as the others were…

Those black eyes remained fixed on her… and its jaw slowly widened…

Jazz knew better than to wait for the supersonic sound to incapacitate her, and without a second thought turned on her heel and ran.  

The other fae were quickly alerted to her presence.

Skulker roared – the scream vibrating through the air like a hoard of crackling stone hornets – and ran after her.  Spectra caught the scent of a young female then – her softened, slightly pink wooden neck twisting completely around to follow Jasmine; she screeched and took off.  Desiree snarled at Ember one last time, then left her to consume Damon and pursued as well, dragging herself along the burning carpet after Jazz.

Jazz’s heart sputtered in her chest.  “DANNY!”

She fled, clinging to her precious velvet bag.  A roar ripped through the back of her skull, black spots erupting in her vision as Skulker grabbed at her and missed by a hair, crashing into a burning wall.  The blue fire was spreading – blazing up to the roof.  The whole mansion was on fire!  

She screamed louder.  “DANNY!!”

Spectra bisected her body – teeth and vine lashing out – and whipped her spiked appendage towards the human girl.  Jazz felt a line of white-hot pain slice across the side of her face; blood poured down her neck, and her ear seared with blistering agony.  Ember hissed and descended from above.  Jazz wailed and scrambled away, barely avoiding the deadly embrace of those fiery wings–!

Horrified tears and snot streamed down her face.  She didn’t even have to look behind her to know all four of them were pursuing her now!

“DANNY!!”

Down the hall a door suddenly burst open, bright light blazing through it.  The fae behind her stumbled and hissed, screeches of pain and displeasure filling her ears as the light grew brighter and brighter.

“Jasmine!  This way, child!”

A hand reached for her through the light.  The monsters screeched and screamed, trying to push past the painful light and grab at her, but she was too quick.  She ran straight for that door, throwing herself into the light–!

**SLAM!**


	5. Chapter Five

Jazz hit the floor just as the door slammed shut, the fae prince standing before it.  The light was coming from him.  It was so… so cold in here… and so dark… **  
**

Blue eyes turned on her, unblinking.  “Are you well?  Are you hurt?”

Jazz whimpered, slowly climbing to her feet and a hand pressed to her bleeding ear.  “Y-Yes…”

“Can you stand?  Walk?”

“I-I…?”

“Good.”

Danny took her hand, smiling encouragingly at her.  “Your quest is almost over, Jasmine.  Soon, everything will be returned to normal and those monsters will be banished back from where they came.  You simply have one more element to gather.”

He lead her down a set of dark dark stairs, winding down, down, down…

“The miasma of Skulker the Wrathful.”

Jazz blinked, trying desperately to see more than just her own hand in front of her face.  The blood loss wasn’t helping, and her heart had yet to slow down.  “You mean… the big one?”

“Yes,”  Danny replied bluntly.  “He came first, through the rip in the veil.  His travel here was messy, and his essence remains on the air.  He was a hunter, the best in the realm.  He hunts humans for sport, carving off their flesh to replace the body he lost long ago, but the skin will only hold him if it is carved from a still-living being.  His true search… is for a face.”

The girl nodded dizzily, though she didn’t truly understand.  Just one more element.  Just one more, and it would all be over.

Soon, the small fae’s was the only light penetrating the darkness.  Jazz was shaking.  Her brain was working overtime to compensate for her lack of vision… hearing the distant echoes of their feet – clicking slowly down a stairway to hell – as she whimpered, feeling for each step with her toes.  The smell of her own burnt hair, the goosebumps on her skin, the stench and taste of the blood that ran from from her sliced ear and clouded her senses.  Adrenaline staved off the pain, she knew, but the fear was so great it was almost a physical force, pushing her back up the stairs, against Danny’s guidance.  Her nose was started to tingle – the stink of spoiled flesh growing ever stronger – as they descended.  The stairs went down… and down… and down…

Just when she was about to cry and plead to go back, Danny’s glow leveled out.

Jazz swallowed, trembling like a leaf as she finally set foot on the floor.

It made a sound like water on concrete.

Splish.

“AHHHHHaaaaaaaaa…!!”

The girl burst into tears and folded in on herself, tugging at her fae guide’s hand; the liquid on the floor had clung to her shoe, sticky and ripe.  “Omigod omigod pleasepleaseplease–!” she wailed, tears streaming down her face, her body shaking so badly she couldn’t even walk.  “I-I don’t wanna go any further!!  I want to g-get OUT OF HERE!  I w-w-want my MOM!  MOMMYYYY!!  DADDYYYYYYY!!”

Danny snarled.  

He turned, raised his hand, and slapped her across the face.  WHACK!

Jazz’s head snapped to the side so hard that stars erupted behind her eyes.  When she could see again, she was laying on the floor, looking up at the fae’s angry face.  “D-Danny…?!” she whimpered, holding her cheek, the freezing liquid seeping slowly through her clothes.

“YOU USELESS–!”

Danny cut himself off.  He paused – closing his blazing eyes – inhaled, and exhaled.

He knelt down, offering her his hand.  “I’m sorry…” he apologized.  “I lost my temper.  But you’ve come this far, my child.  I won’t let you give up now.”

Jazz swallowed, trembling.  “E-Everyone is gone…!  I-I don’t know what I’m doing this f-for!  I-It’s dark and I-I’m scared and I DON’T WANT TO DIE–!”

“Do you truly wish to turn back now?” Danny asked, taking her hand and pulling her gently back to her feet.  "Do you truly wish for all these monsters to run loose on the world, causing chaos and death?  You are the only one that can stop them, the only one that can save the world, save everyone…“

He met her eyes, his own bright and beautiful and mesmerizing.  "The only one that can save your parents.  You want to see them again, don’t you?”

Jazz pulled in a shuddering breath, still shaking from head to toe.  “I don’t know if I’m strong enough…”

She clung to Danny’s hand, holding it close.  “W-Will you stay with me?”

“Of course I will, silly girl~”

Jazz took another deep breath – trying to pull herself together – and finally nodded.  “O-Okay…” she whispered.  “Show me the way…”

Danny pulled her into the darkness.

His smile almost glowed in the shadows.  

“This way…”

 

~*~

 

It felt like her head was splitting open.  Her leg was on fire.  She couldn’t move, couldn’t open her eyes… but slowly, her senses came back to her.  She was lying on cold tile, sprawled like a broken doll tossed carelessly into a closet.  Dim lights gnawed at her eyelids…

Valerie moaned quietly, twitching on the floor of a dark, dusty room.  “Oh… damn…!”

It took her a solid minute on how to figure out how she could open her eyes, and another ten before she could even attempt to sit up.  That was a mistake; Valerie’s stomach heaved, and she wretched stomach acid all over the floor.

The stinking fluid seeped between the tiles as she coughed and gasped for breath, leg and head throbbing, her entire body crying out in pain.  Everything HURT.

Swallowing, she looked around her, squinting past the colored spots that winked in her streaming eyes.  “W-Where am I…?”

 

~*~

 

“What is this place…?”

Danny had led Jazz deep beneath the manor, far deeper than any basement and so dark she couldn’t see anything past the fae’s glowing form.  It felt like they had been walking forever since the stairs, and Jazz had long since tuned out the soft, wet sounds her feet made against the stone floor.  Now, she felt like she was standing in some sort of tall chamber, cold and dark and stinking of earth and… something else.  Her mind struggled to place the smell, almost sweet, like rotten food, but it just kept escaping her.  And above their heads was something she couldn’t quite explain…  

It was like a rip in the very fabric of space and time, a gaping black hole that sucked all light within it.  It pulsed and moved, like an inky syrupy stain, oozing out and nearly taking up the entire ceiling of the large room.

“This is the veil,” Danny explained, leading her closer.  The floor seemed to rise up a little, almost making her trip.  "This is the rip between our worlds.  If we close it, those monsters will be sucked back in, and the world will be safe once more.“

Jazz blinked, eyes locked on the constantly moving portal.  "But… does that mean you’ll be going back too?”

“Of course.  I have a duty to my realm, don’t I?”

They were much higher up now, so close that the veil hung directly above Jazz’s head.  She swallowed thickly as she felt the crackle of energy crawl across her skin, like hundreds upon hundreds of spiders.  "I don’t like it…“

"You shouldn’t.  It’s unnatural.  A veil is meant to only be open during Samhain.  This one has been forced to stay open for years and years…”

“What kept it open?”

Danny paused, glancing back over to her.  "Someone has been feeding it.  Perhaps the previous owner of this manor, back when dark magic was a fad for the rich and bored?  Who knows.“

He let go of her hand and stood back.  "This is where Skulker emerged.  The miasma of his body still hangs in the air here, since travel through the veil is a… perilous journey.”

Sure enough, just around the edges of the portal, Jazz could make out the wisps of smoke in the air, Danny’s light glowing off of it like film floating through a dirty fish tank.  She cringed, hoping she hadn’t been breathing this stuff in…

She slowly pulled out the last empty vial, handing the pouch over to Danny, and carefully scooped some of the tainted air.  She stopped it up tight, watching it move inside like bottled smoke.  Jazz looked up at Danny, smiling proudly.  "We got them all!“

"Wonderful, Jazz!”  Danny handed her back the pouch.  "Now hurry, we don’t have much time left.“

He stepped to the side, revealing an old looking stone altar, placed directly below the veil.  She hadn’t noticed it before, in all that darkness.

"Place the elements around the altar, and we’ll get started…”

 

~*~

 

Valerie bit back a scream as she grabbed at a nearby rolling chair, jostling her broken limb.  Putting all her weight on her good leg, she pushed herself onto the chair; she bit into her cheek from the effort of not crying out, and painfully adjusted herself until she was sitting properly.  “Nnnn… mmm…!” she whimpered.  She was actually glad she couldn’t see her injuries.  Her leg probably looked like hell; and she definitely had a concussion.  She just hoped her brain wasn’t bleeding…

The girl swallowed, chest heaving, as she looked around.  Finally, her eyes were adjusting.

She was in… some kind of lab. Tiny flickers of illumination still kindled in the bellies of the fluorescent strips that lined the ceiling.  A computer sat at the desk where Valerie was nearest, turned off but still plugged in – just opposite of an operation table and a simple chair that could be wiped down, both covered in strange stains.  She couldn’t smell any blood besides her own.  Just… dust, and stale air.  It had to have been years since this place was abandoned, from the bulk of the technology, the mold in the corners, and the amount of dust that collected in the grain of the walls.  Everything had once been white, stained with wear; the tile floor, the counters, the cabinets.  But most notable… was the inexplicable eerie sensation, a strange, phantom tingling, like Valerie could see a thousand needles all about to be slid into her veins.  Something was near… passive, but purely evil.  Unnatural.

Valerie swallowed down another wave of nausea, and used her good leg to roll herself over to the computer.  She prayed this thing had some sort of email.  It couldn’t be that old, could it?

 

~*~

 

“Place Spectra’s essence there…  Yes, very good, Jasmine~”

Jazz took a step back from the altar, the uncomfortable feeling from before becoming even more and more intense.  As she watched, the glass vials began to glow, slowly lighting up more of the room…

“Jasmine.”

The redhead turned to face Danny, a little startled to find him floating so close to her.  He looked down at her, face expressionless.  “Are you willing to do what it takes to finish this?”

Jazz hesitated, growing nervous.  But, Danny said this was the only way to save everyone, to save her parents, the world!

“I… I am…”

“Swear it,”  the fae whispered, floating closer.  “Say, ‘I swear myself to the veil’.”

Her brows furrowed.  “Why do I need to-”

“Old magic.  Ritual.  You don’t need a reason.”

His bright blue eyes filled her vision.  “SAY IT!”

“I…”  she swallowed, throat suddenly so dry.  “I swear myself… to the veil…”

There was a near physical snap and spark in the air, causing Jazz to jump and look up at the portal above her head.  Was it… moving faster?  She looked back towards Danny, mouth opening to ask him what was happening–!

A mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth grinned back at her.  

“Well done, Jasmine.  VERY well done~”

FWOOM!

Like someone had flicked a switch, hundreds of candles suddenly burst to life all around them, lighting the once dark room in a bright, hellish blaze.

Blood.  The floor, the walls, the ceiling… it was all stained and dripping with blood.  Piles upon piles of bodies covered nearly every inch of the floor, broken bones and rotten flesh the only decor in this underground crypt.  The smell suddenly hit her, like a curtain had been lifted from around her face, and she doubled over, gagging as she tried to throw up.  But there was nothing left in her stomach.  There were so many bodies, so many people that had been killed, mutilated, torn apart, and eaten.  The largest pile of bodies rested against the far wall, so big, it towered over Jazz’s head…

“What is this?!”  she screamed, slipping on the blood stained floor, her back colliding with the stone altar.  “WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!”

Her eyes widened in horror as, from the shadows and corners of the room, the other fae came forward.  Spectra, Ember, Desiree, Skulker.  They stopped in a semicircle around her, grinning at her maliciously.

Danny laughed, loud and unhinged.  “Meet my family, Jasmine!  And thanks to you… you just set them all FREE~!”

He cooed, a clicking, unnerving sound.  “Well, you will.  You, and your PARENTS!”

He waved a hand, directing her attention to look up above the altar.  There, hanging from the ceiling by sticky, silvery spider threads, were Jack and Maddie Fenton.  Unmoving, bleeding, but ALIVE.

Jazz screamed.  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“Oh, be silent, girl.”

She whipped around, horrified eyes landing on the person that just stepped out from the shadows, grinning at her over the altar.  “It will all be over soon~”

 

~*~

 

Valerie tapped at the enter key, her face pale and drawn.  That horrible feeling was crawling up on her even faster.  “C’mon, c’mon…!”

An index popped up, white text on black screen.  Her damaged brain spasmed at the sudden light; she winced and groaned, hands going to her eyes… then, the computer pinged.  The girl glanced up, squinting.

In her bloodshot, flickering vision, Valerie could see a list of dates, scrolling all the way down the page.

Wincing, she reached out for the mouse, moving it.  The onscreen cursor didn’t move; she groaned and went for the arrow keys, tapping it back to the entry at the bottom of the page, dated at about fifteen years ago.  But then, her hand twitched, unbidden, causing her to strike it one more time – and it went down one more.  Valerie blinked in disorientation, squinting.  

Hesitantly, she held her hand over the arrow key… and held it down.

Scrolling… scrolling…

It kept going and going, rolling down.  Valerie’s eyes widened as the dates kept getting more and more recent.  Ten years ago… six years ago… one year ago…?!

The frantic pinging sound that erupted when she hit the bottom of the page made her jump, then hiss in pain at her leg.  Valerie swallowed once the stabbing pain had let up, glancing warily at the screen.

It was today’s date.

She reached out slowly, and clicked on it.

 

~*~

 

_**-FORTY YEARS AGO-** _

_“W-What are you…?”_

_In the dead of night, on All Hallow’s Eve, a young boy stood in the shadow of a far taller being – his dark eyes wide with fear, staring up at the huge, ethereal wings.  His costume was a pink bedsheet with two holes cut into it, and his little plastic bag of candy lay forgotten on the ground behind him.  The darkness of the veil surrounded them… with only the glow of his unexpected guest to light the way._

_Large, insect like eyes glowed down at the little human in a curious… and hungry way.  Stepping further into the moonlight, the creature’s white skin glowed like snow and its pitch black hair floated around its head like smoke.  On either side of his body were three long arms, proportional to his long legs._

_“Hello, little lovely…”  the being cooed, voice light and soft like childs.  It glided forward, ever closer.  The wings were blood red and looked velvety soft to the touch, pink lacy tendrils floating out from its back and around its hips like that of a jellyfish.  The boy swallowed in fear, taking a step back when he saw that a great deal of the glow coming from this creature… came from the large eyes blinking at him from INSIDE the wings._

_“You’re are such a brave boy, to be out here so late…”  came another croon.  “But why are you all alone~?”_

_“I…I lost my group…” the little boy whispered.  “M-My foster parents take the kids out for Halloween and tonight was my first…”_

_He blinked, starry-eyed at the velvety, lacy wings.  “A-Are… Are you a boy or a girl…?” he asked, flushing.  “I-I like your costume.”_

_The creature giggled, a sound like tinkling glass bells.  “Oh, sweet thing… I am both and I am neither, you might say!  As for your second question…”_

_Full lips spread wider… and wider… until it nearly split across the being’s face, sharp teeth glinting in the natural light._

_“I… am wearing no costume~”_

_The child swallowed, turning pinker.  “Are… Are you a monster…?”_

_Those big wings fluttered as the creature came closer.  “Hmmm, some might say that.  I am eternal, an ancient creature beyond the veils of this world, only able to cross over when it is at its weakest.”_

_The wind stirred, causing the boy to shiver as those wings allowed the creature to zip around him so fast, disappearing and reappearing on his other side, so close with such a big smile.  “But enough about me~  Tell me about you!  You’re the first human I’ve ever met, sweetling… I’m so terribly curious~”_

_“S-So… you won’t eat me…?”_

_The creature frowned, looking thoughtful, then shook its head.  “If I were to eat you, I’d be all alone again.  And I did just eat, so I’m not too terribly hungry.  So no, I will not eat you.”_

_The small boy looked down at the ground, still pink.  “Oh… okay…”_

_“Won’t you show me your face, little lovely~?” the being cooed, fluttering a little closer.  “Surely you don’t think that flimsy bit of cloth will protect you from my eyes forever~”_

_The little boy seemed to shrink in on himself… then pulled it off._

_Big blue eyes glanced up at the creature, in its full glory.  “I’m… not a ‘little lovely,’” he pouted._

_“Ooh, but you are!”  the creature cried, beaming.  “Look at that silver spun hair.  So beautiful, it’s like starlight~!”_

_It came closer, floating so close to the boy’s face and invading his personal bubble.  “And look at those eyes…”  it crooned, voice so sweet.  “Like the dark blues that swirl in the veils of my world…  how very very lovely~”_

_“I-I’m MANLY!” the child frowned, his little lip stuck out as he crossed his arms._

_“Mmm, I have no doubt you will be~” the creature crooned, eyes glowing a tad brighter in an all knowing fashion.  “Yes… I can see it now.  You will grow up so tall and strong, so handsome and beautiful…”_

_Another thoughtful look crossed his face, along with something in its eyes that the little boy would later learn was something close to covetous.  “Tell me your name, little sweetling…”_

_The boy was hesitant… but shifted in place and bowed slightly.  “My name’s Vlad…”_

_“Vlad…”  it crooned, long dark lashes fluttering against high white cheek bones.  “Hello, Vlad.  You, may call me D’Any’Domhnulla.”_

_“Da… Deeah… D–”_

_Vlad frowned, brows furrowed in confusion.  “Can I just call you Danny?” he asked, almost pleadingly._

_The creature giggled again, smiling.  “For you, lovely?  Of course~”_

_Those bright blue eyes glowed even brighter, that sharp smile stretching a little bit wider.  “Of course…”_

_It is said that young children speak half english and half god, and that night, Vlad and the newly christened “Danny” spent hours talking to one another, sharing thoughts and their pasts and insights of other people.  The young boy completely forgot about his missing foster parents.  After all, there was a beautiful, magical creature enraptured in his company; it would have been difficult to think of anything else.  And little did he know, this being would never leave his thoughts again…_

 

~*~*~

 

**-PRESENT DAY-**

Vladimir Masters stepped out from the shadows, dancing a knife over his fingers.  “Oh, be silent, girl,” he snapped at Jasmine.  

The redhead cowered on the other side of the altar, horrified eyes fixed on him as her parents slowly bled out – drop by drop – onto the stone altar.  Around them, hundreds of human corpses in various states of decay and assembly were piled against the walls.  Some of them had rotted down to bones and black, clumping slime, some were burned, some were stripped of their skin, some were fresh and dripping red… all contributing to the sheen of mixed gore that covered the floor, reflecting the spinning lights of the veil…

Vlad smirked wryly.  “It will all be over soon~”

“Mr. M-M-Masters?  No… no!”  Jazz shook her head wildly, taking a step back in horror.  “No!  You… How could you DO this?!  You were their FRIEND!”

“He never was their friend, my dear~”

Jazz winced as Danny floated past her, moving to press himself tight to Vlad’s side.  He batted his long lashes up at the man, crooning as he reached up to play with his loose, silver hair.  “He has no friends, only prey~”

His eyes flicked to hers, sharp grin widening.  “Only ME~”

Before Jazz’s eyes, that silky pink appendage she had assumed was some form of cloak, unfurled and opened wide, revealing large, butterfly like wings.  The flesh of the inside was fuzzy and blood red, with large glowing eyes in each wing that were all trained solely on her.  Her jaw dropped as, along with the wings, two more sets of arms folded out to curl around Vlad.  

Her fairy prince morphed into another monster, right before her eyes.

Danny pressed his cool lips to Vlad’s cheek, wrapping his arms around his neck.  “You only need me… right, my love~?”

The billionaire chuckled, stroking his hands down the young fae’s sides – smoothing rough palms down his soft hips.  “Oh yes~” he chuckled.  He pressed the tip of his nose to Danny’s, the fae giggling sweetly.  “Ever since I was young, and fetched your first sacrifice… Do you remember, D’Any’Domhnulla~?  My first kill for you…?”

“Oh yes…” Danny crooned, pressing himself ever closer.  

 

~*~

 

_Little Vlad jumped slightly when his little football-themed watch began to beep, then realized what it was and looked down at it.  “Oh, it’s a quarter to eleven!!” he exclaimed.  He sulked, looking up at Danny.  “Everyone will be in bed by now…”_

_With small, pale hands, he took the fay’s long fingers, pulling him along.  “I want you to come with me!”_

_“With you?”_

_Vlad beamed up at him.  “Yes, with me!  You’re my best friend now!”_

_A pleased look entered those bright eyes, before the creature sighed sadly.  “Oh sweet one, I cannot come with you…”_

_“Why not?”_

_“The veil is weak for only thirteen hours at a time.  My time is almost up, and I will be forced to return to my world.  As much as I wish to stay with you, my lovely, I cannot.  Before long, the veil will force me from your world until I can next return.”_

_Vlad frowned.  “And when will that be?”_

_“All Hallow’s Eve, next year.”_

_“NEXT YEAR?!”_

_The boy’s exclamation was loud and horrified.  “What?!  N-No!” Vlad yelled, holding the fay’s fingers tightly.  “You have to return sooner!  I-I told you that I had no friends, is that why you don’t want to be my friend either?!  I promise, I won’t be weird or annoying or anything, please!  Just stay with me!  I’ll do anything…!”_

_Biting his lip, Vlad pressed his forehead into Danny’s hand.  “I’ll do anything… please…”_

_There was a moment of silence before Danny floated down to the ground on bended knee, embracing Vlad in all six of his long arms.  The creature peppered his cheeks with kisses from cool lips, cooing to him softly.  “Oh sweet one… are you sure?  To keep me here, to tie me to you, will take a great deed on your part.  Much like any knight or prince from your tales, you must complete one task to save me for a year…”_

_Danny met his eyes, holding him in near mesmerized state.  “The task will be difficult, challenging, and you may not wish to do it.  Are you sure?”_

_The little seven-year-old boy stared up into the veil creature’s eyes.  “Yes!”_

_Those blue eyes lit up at the creatures near victory.  “Very well, sweetling.  Follow me.”_

_Taking Vlad’s hand, the creature rose and floated into the woods, leading the boy further and further away from the small little town.  Deeper and deeper they went, until the trees grew sparse and the land sloped at an incline.  Up the hill they traveled, stopping in a grove of tall willow trees.  At the top of the hill, Danny showed Vlad a gap in the ground that led into a dark cavern inside the hill.  The boy crouched down and peered into the hole, gasping as his eyes landed on what looked like a tear in the rocky earth below._

_The tear was small, no bigger than a window, and was tattered and frayed at the edges.  It glowed an inky purple light, swirling and twisting like blood in water._

_“That, is the veil…”  Danny explained, eyes on Vlad.  “To keep me for a year for yourself, you must offer it something, as my replacement.”_

_“Like… like what?”  Vlad asked, glancing back up at the being.  “What do I do?”_

_“You must kill something for me, Vlad.  You must draw blood and kill something in my name, my lovely, and drop it into the veil, to take my place for the year.”_

_“Something?” Vlad repeated, cocking his head – not understanding the implications of such a statement.  “Like… anything?  Like a bug?  I kill bugs.”_

_“What you kill must have a heart beat, my sweet,” Danny explained, smiling at the boy’s eagerness.  “You have less than an hour I’m afraid.  You must find something, anything, that bleeds with a beating heart, kill it with thoughts of only me, and drop it into the veil.”_

_The creature looked up the moon high in the sky.  “You must hurry, time is running out…”_

_Vlad’s face lit up.  “A-And if I do, you’ll be my friend?  Forever and ever?”_

_The creature smiled, leaning down to place a cold, lingering kiss at his hairline.  “Forever and ever, my lovely~  As long as you wish me to stay~”_

_Suddenly, the boy leapt up.  Danny blinked when tiny, warm arms wrapped around his neck, and small, soft lips pressed against his forehead.  Vlad stayed there for a second… then pulled back, smiling brightly.  “Then, forever and ever!” he proclaimed, and without another word, raced off into the woods._

_That first night, Vlad came back with the broken body of a sparrow and a childish grin.  Together they tossed it into the rift – a few minutes before midnight – and watched the tiny corpse dissolve into the veil._

_They both waited with baited breath, and Vlad felt more then heard the sigh of contentment that suddenly left his new friend.  He looked up, and his eyes widened at the bright, beautiful smile on Danny’s face._

_“It worked, my lovely!” the creature trilled, lifting the boy into his arms and floating high into the sky, spinning him around.  “For another year I am free of the veil!  You did it my sweet, you did it!”_

_Laughing brightly, the creature set him back down on the ground but held him close.  “Remember your promise, Vlad.  Forever and ever, just the two of us…”_

_Vlad wrapped his arms around him, snuggling deep into his shoulder.  “Forever and ever~”_

_With a single twist of a sparrow’s neck – his fate had been sealed._

 

~*~

 

“You were so adorable when you were small… so eager to please…”

Jazz’s face was as white as a sheet, horror and disgust in her eyes.  “You… you monster!  He was just a CHILD!  You… you USED him!”

“Yes, I did.”

The girl startled at the admittance, staring at Danny; the fae looked upon her coldly.  “I was trying to survive.  I didn’t want to go back home, I LIKED it here,” he informed her.  “Plenty of food and entertainment, what more could a young fae need growing up, hmm?  So I did what I needed to do to stay here on earth.”

He glanced at Vlad, the human simply smiling at him in return.  There was no shock or anger there, not like Jazz would have expected.  Danny smiled too, like they were sharing some twisted inside joke.  “I found a boy, all alone, and manipulated him to get what I wanted~” he cooed.  “He never even hesitated, he did anything I asked.  He killed for me, entertained me, talked with me, and I even got him to love me.”

The fae suddenly laughed, nuzzling his face with Vlad’s.  “Oh, but you turned out to be the best choice of my life.  You got me to love you~”

“Ah, yes… I remember that day…”  Vlad said fondly, shaking his head.  “I was sixteen, and let me tell you, puberty can be quite a problem when you fall in love with an unearthly being~”

 

~*~

 

_For the next ten years, Danny never left Vlad’s side.  No other human could see him unless he wished it, and so the creature shared every waking moment with the human, played with him, learned with him, even shared his bed in sleep.  It wasn’t long till Vlad learned that Danny ate the flesh of others.  Dog, cat, deer, human… it didn’t matter to the creature.  And Vlad learned, it didn’t matter to him either.  Whatever kept Danny happy and healthy, was all that mattered to him.  The creature was his only friend, and he would protect and care for him any way he could._

_The following year from the first, Vlad had to kill a larger creature, so he killed a crow.  Then a hawk.  Then a rabbit.  So on and so forth for ten years until the last year’s sacrifice was a large buck that Vlad had hunted down himself and dragged to the ever-growing, hungry veil._

_But this year he was sixteen, and he knew without Danny having to tell him that this year’s sacrifice was going to require something larger than a deer…_

_On All Hallow’s Eve, Danny’s stilled wings glowed in the approaching darkness of the ravenous veil – feeling the weight of his continued existence loom over him like the moon itself.  The creature hovered at the mouth of the cavern, waiting for Vlad as he always did._

_White-wall tires splattered through the muck._

_Danny perked up, blue eyes bright as he saw Vlad’s car through the pouring rain.  He fluttered a little in excitement, watching the familiar black raincoat get out of the car, slam the door, and go to the trunk.  He was later than usual.  It was only half an hour till midnight._

_The creature watched as Vlad threw something over one broad shoulder and made his way slowly to Danny and the waiting veil.  Danny smiled, floating closer to his human.  Vlad was currently going through puberty, and Danny was pleased with how his human was turning out.  He was taller then the fay creature now, with his promised broad shoulders and strong muscles.  High cheekbones cut into his handsome boyish face and his hair was longer, softer, than it was when they first met._

_“You took so long, my lovely!”  Danny lightly scolded, pouting.  “Did you have trouble?  Why didn’t you call for me…”_

_Vlad threw back his hood._

_Blood splattered his face, down the neck and disappearing under the collar of his raincoat.  There was a wild look in his eyes as he reached down, gently gripped the back of Danny’s neck, and scooped him up, sealing his mouth over those soft, unearthly lips that he had been dreaming about for so long._

_The creature was in shock for a moment, before crooning in the back of his throat and pressing closer to Vlad’s strong chest.  Small hands with long fingers came up to touch any part of Vlad they could; tangling in his hair, his collar, his coat, everywhere._

_They finally separated,  Danny’s eyes lidded as he cooed and trilled, petting Vlad’s neck and face and chest as he sighed.  “Oh… oh Vlad~”_

_The ethereal being pressed his face closer, nuzzling under Vlad’s jaw as he peppered his skin with butterfly kisses, wings fluttering.  “My big, strong lovely, oh~”_

_Vlad let out a slow breath, eyes falling shut.  “I’m sorry I’m late.  She struggled, tried to run,” he murmured.  “But I caught her.”_

_He stroked Danny’s hair and gazed down into those beautiful, unearthly blue eyes.  “I killed one of my own species for you tonight… and it felt so good, Danny…” the young man crooned.  His head fell forward with a soft groan.  “It felt so good…”_

_Danny gazed into his eyes with a look full of wonder, like he had just come to an amazing conclusion he had not thought possible.  “Oh my lovely, you’re changing for me.  You’re becoming a killer, a provider, just for me…”_

_He gifted his human with another soft kiss, before moving to trail his cold lips and tongue against his jaw and cheek, licking up the splattered blood with a soft, content hum.  “Look at all you’ve done for me, my provider, my handsome lovely…”_

_Glowing blue eyes looked contemplative as he licked up the rest of the blood, going unseen by Vlad.  It would be in that moment that Danny decided that this human, HIS human, must stay his forever.  But humans had such weak bodies and such short life times…_

_He would have to do away with that._

 

~*~

 

“We’ve been inseparable,”  Danny preened, peppering Vlad’s face with kisses.  “We’ve been planning for years and years for this PRECISE moment~”

Jazz swallowed, gut twisting.  “What… what moment?”

Blue eyes snapped to her; one pair human, the other unnatural.  Vlad smirked, holding up the knife he had carried in.

“The moment we drain you and your parents dry, and cement the veil open permanently.”


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (some sexual content)

“The moment we drain you and your parents dry, and cement the veil open permanently.”

The girl cried out as a thick arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her into the air and carrying her towards the altar.  She screamed and thrashed, struggling against the hulking, putrid mass of flesh that was Skulker’s body.  He squeezed tighter, cutting off her airflow.  Black spots danced behind her eyes before she was dumped onto the stone altar.  She screamed as her wrist broke on impact, her weight landing on it wrong when she tried to catch herself – but before she could sit up and try to roll away, thick vines covered in thorns rose up over the altar and snagged her wrists and ankles.  Pain lanced through her as the long thorns pierced her skin, digging almost all the way to the bone.  The vines pulled tight and stretched her body over the altar, her screams of pain filling the room.

She cried out again as fire suddenly sparked near her side, sobbing as her clothes were slowly burned away from her body.  Above her head she noticed that the same was happening to her parents, her eyes flicking away from their suddenly nude and beaten forms.  

She was sobbing openly now, stretched naked and bleeding upon the altar like a lamb to slaughter.

Her breath caught as the knife flashed into view once more.

“You really should stop fighting,”  Danny commented, almost boredly as he cleaned the knife with an old, threadbare cloth.  “Your mother fought, and look how badly she ended up.”

 

~*~

 

_Maddie buried her face in his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to carry her with one hand while he typed in the key code.  Vlad opened the door, brought them both inside, and closed it behind him.  The stench of blood and willows penetrated even the lustful haze over Maddie’s head.  The woman gasped, eyes wide, and pulled away to look for the source–!_

_Vlad growled, grabbed her hips, and shoved her off him._

_Maddie hit the desk, crying out in pain.  “Ow!!  Vlad, what the hell–?!”_

_Her hand slipped in cold slime.  The woman paused, looked, and SCREAMED._

_The shredded remains of a human being – intestines and skin ripped apart like rice paper – lay on the desk; out of the corner of her eye, Maddie spotted amongst the mess a scrap of an apron, and a chunk of black hair._

_Emma._

_“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”_

_“Oh DO be silent.”_

_Maddie’s screams were cut short as she choked on her tongue, eyes wide in fright.  That… had not been Vlad’s voice…_

_Slowly, she turned around to face the opposite side of Vlad’s large oak desk.  Lounging in the plush, black leather office chair, was Danny – the small creature with nearly translucent pale skin and large, insect like eyes that glowed like blue hell fire.  The being was practically nude save for the strange collection of multicolored vine-like appendages that covered its groin area, connected to the skin just under the belly button.  They almost looked like… jellyfish stingers.  But what had most of Maddie’s attention, were the three sets of enormous wings that fluttered lazily behind this creature, the inside blood red and almost fuzzy looking, like velvet.  Each wing had a large, glowing eye at their center, much like the ones on its face.  More of those stinger like vines spilled down its back, curling around not one, not two, but THREE sets of arms…_

_Danny met her gaze with a bone chilling smile.  “This room is soundproof, you know.  So really, any sound you make… is pointless…”_

_Maddie scrambled to her feet, fumbling for the shotgun she had dropped when Vlad had pushed her away.  Obviously he had dropped her when he had spotted this creature and the gruesome remains of his maid!  Maddie planted herself between the billionaire and this fairy from hell, aiming the shotgun at his smiling face.  “Vlad, stay behind me!”_

_The creature LAUGHED.  “Now, why would he need to do a silly thing like that~?”_

_Maddie blinked, sputtering at the ridiculous comment.  “Wh-what?”_

_Vlad rolled his eyes._

_He grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, ripped it away from her, and delivered a crippling strike to her kidneys.  Maddie was suddenly sprawled on the floor, gasping for air.  “AH!”_

_The billionaire cranked the shotgun and placed her in the crosshairs.  “Your call, my love,” he muttered, eyes keen on the injured gasping woman.  “I know you’ve wanted this one…”_

_Maddie recoiled more from the words, then the gun aimed at her prone form.  “L-L-LOVE?!”_

_“Yessss…  LOVE~”_

_Danny floated up from the chair, moving to sit instead on the corner of the desk directly above her, long legs crossed in a prim fashion.  “You see, dear Madeline, Vladimir was NEVER available.  Not to you, not to all those trollops, no one.  He, belongs to ME.  He’s been mine for many, MANY years…”_

_Blue eyes narrowed and those large wings seemed to vibrate with contained fury.  An anger and hatred that had been held in and nurtured, for YEARS.  “And you, out of all those fools he charmed and tricked, stole from and killed, fed to ME… YOU were the one long-lasting THORN in my SIDE…”_

_“Considering you were the only one that I didn’t fully penetrate across the years, I think it’s cute~” Vlad cooed, glancing up at the fae.  “He’s always understood that I had to sleep with a few people to get them in the place I wanted.  But he hated you in particular, he did, my sweet Danny~”_

_Danny hissed between his sharp teeth in displeasure.  “We had a system, you see.  I let him date those women, so he not only could get what we needed, what we wanted, but also so he had multiple test subjects to train his more… intimate skills.  BUT!”_

_The fae rounded on Vlad then, almost seeming to snarl, before those full lips twisted into a pout.  “Everyone you ever slept with, was meant to die and be fed to me right after you got what you needed!  No one you ever touched, ever pleasured, was allowed to LIVE.  But this little home wrecker, just had to spread her legs for you on her own wedding day!”_

_“Now, Danny–”_

_“I know why she was left alive!”  Danny snapped, eyes snapping back to Maddie’s.  “Too dangerous, too public, could be useful in the future.  I understand all of it, but I don’t have to LIKE it.  You just couldn’t move on, could you?  Just couldn’t let go and live on with your boring little life and little family, had to go seeking greener pastures, right honey~?”_

_Those unearthly eyes narrowed.  “How are those pastures looking now, hmm~?”_

_Maddie opened her mouth – and closed it.  Her eyes flicked to the shotgun in Vlad’s hand and back.  “What ARE you…?!”_

_Full lips stretched into a deceptively pleasant smile.  “All you are worth telling is that I am a powerful fae, a monarch sidhe of the Unseelie Courts.  For decades I have planned and schemed and waited, for the day I can finally rip open the veil between our worlds and return us once more to the dark age of magic.  The veil, right beneath your feet…”_

_Danny’s smile widened to unnatural levels, almost splitting his face in two as he grinned down at her with sharp, sharp teeth.  “The veil that your blood will help open.  And your husband’s blood…”_

_He giggled, light and carefree.  The sound would have been beautiful, in any other situation…_

_“And your daughter’s body~”_

_“Don’t you DARE put a hand on my daughter, you brat!!” Maddie yelled._

_She tried to get up, but Vlad pointed the shotgun at her again.  “Ah ah ah.  Sit down,” the billionaire told her.  Tears of fury and betrayal slipped down her cheeks, but she obeyed.  “Danny is going to do with you what he pleases…”_

_“And really, Madeline, you should be PROUD~!”  Danny chortled, clearly taking pleasure in her pain.  “Your daughter is going to become the gateway between our worlds!  A pure sacrifice!  Why, our kind will be singing her name for years and years to come~!”_

_As light as a feather, the fae slid from the desk and landed on the ground beside her, wings spread wide as he approached.  “And I can guarantee, unlike yours…”_

_His mouth suddenly grew impossibly wide, jaw unhinging like a snake as spider-like pincers slid out from behind his sharp teeth, gleaming black and dripping with venom.  All four sets of eyes locked on her trembling form, wings spreading wide and arms raised high._

_“Her death… will be quick…” Danny snarled._

_And then he was upon her, so quick she never even had a chance to scream.  Those sharp pincers slid into the flesh of her neck, injecting the fae’s venom straight into her bloodstream.  All sound died in her throat as her body seized, going horribly and painfully still.  Every muscle locked up tight, her body seeming to burn from the inside out like her belly was filled with fire ants.  The pincers were removed, teeth tearing away a chunk of her skin…_

_But yet again, she couldn’t utter a sound._

_Blood dripped from the fae’s mouth as he pulled back, pincers and teeth tucked away and plump lips stained red.  He sighed happily as he dropped her body into one set of arms, long tongue licking at his lips in contentment.  He cooed as he slowly reached behind himself, wings fluttering faster and faster as a strange substance began to unravel and appear in his hands._

_Silk… spider’s silk…_

_All six arms were coated in the substance as Maddie was raised up in the air, and drawn closer and closer into the embrace of those large wings.  It was then, just as they began to envelop her, that she realized… the wings were not fuzzy with velvet…_

_They were not soft at all, not when they were hungry._

_The woman screamed and screamed – silent, trapped in her own head – as the flesh of her arms and sides were ripped into and pulled away, some of it disappearing past Danny’s lips and the rest seeming to be absorbed directly into the wings themselves.  Blood dripped slowly from her body, hindered by the venom, and dripped onto Danny’s extra hands.  Not a single drop hit the carpet._

_Slowly, her body was spun in his arms, long fingered hands quickly and expertly spreading the extra blood, wrapping the silk around her form.  Faster and faster she was spun, like a fly caught in a web, her mind dizzy and slow.  She wanted to throw up but her body wouldn’t obey her.  She couldn’t fight, couldn’t scream, couldn’t move, couldn’t even cry.  But she felt everything that happened to her, every cut, every bite, every rip of flesh… she felt every agony…_

_Tighter and tighter he wrapped her up, cocooning her completely in the fine, silky, sticky strands, keeping the rest of the blood from leaving her wounds.  Keeping her from dying._

_“You’ve gotten so good at that, my love…” Vlad murmured._

_He brushed a finger against one of the silky buds between Danny’s wings.  It twitched slightly under his touch.  “It requires such a delicate… touch…”_

_A sound similar to a dove’s coo reverberated out of Danny’s throat as he finally set the now imprisoned woman down on the floor.  He would take her away later, prepare her for the ritual.  He moaned at the very idea, head tilting back and wings fluttering slowly, happily._

_“Mmm… finally!  That felt so good~!”_

_“Have you killed anything tonight yet, sweetling?” Vlad asked softly.  He approached Danny, wrapping his arms around the small fae and placing his big hands on that soft white stomach.  “Were you hungry?  You should have told me, I would have hurried…”_

_The small fae sighed, leaning back into Vlad’s arms as he lowered his large wings, tucking them out of the way.  “We had a plan to follow, my love.  It has to be this way.  Besides…”_

_He glanced down at Maddie’s still body, no more than a corpse to him now.  He smiled, shuddering happily.  “Oooh… it was worth the wait~”_

_Vlad cradled Danny’s hips in his hands, gently swaying them back and forth.  “Am I forgiven, then~?” he purred, kissing the fae’s beautiful, pale cheek._

_Danny giggled, cooing at him happily as he turned around in his human lover’s arms, pressing himself tight to that large, broad chest.  “Oh, of course–!”_

_His words cut off suddenly, bright eyes zeroing in on one of Vlad’s hands.  To anyone else, they wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong, but Danny could not only see Maddie’s sexual arousal on those thick digits, he could also SMELL it._

_He hissed, wings snapping up angrily, but not threatening Vlad.  Even as displeased as he was, he would never hurt his human.  But he was still very, very unhappy._

_“You touched her.”_

_He hissed, grabbing at Vlad’s wrist.  “AGAIN!”_

_“I hoped it would distract her from the corpse in the room, Danny…” Vlad murmured, touching the fae’s face with his clean hand.  “I underestimated her eagerness to get in my pants.”_

_Danny grumbled, conceding to Vlad’s logic, but still upset.  He took a step back, pouting like a child as one set of arms crossed in front of him and another put a set of hands on his rounded hips.  “You SMELL like her now… It’s disgusting…”_

_“Then why don’t we remedy that, my love…?”_

_Danny raised a brow at Vlad’s tone of voice, bottom lip still jutted out in a pout even as his body language opened a bit towards the human, interested.  “What do you have in mind?”_

_The silver-haired man smiled wickedly… stepping into the fae’s space.  “Oh… I’ll show you, my bodacious butterfly~!”_

_“Ah… very confident, aren’t you~?”  Danny purred, arms coming up to embrace the larger man.  Vlad pressed a gentle, lingering hand at the fae’s belly, and slowly stroked downward.  “You think it will be so easy for me to forgive you, hmm?  You DID touch another, her scent is all over you, and you have yet to tell me how you intend to remedy tha–”_

_Thick fingers teased at the delicate, curly tendrils covering his privates, petting and stroking them till they parted for him.  Vlad had had many years to practice and perfect this trick…_

_Danny gasped, head falling back as he felt his lover’s warmth creep up his thigh.  “Oh… oh I see…”_

_Without any effort at all, Danny used his wings to pull himself slightly into the air, feet off the ground and body floating before Vlad.  He slowly spread his legs…_

_“See, look at that…” Vlad whispered.  He took hold of Danny’s small shaft, running his fingers over it a few times, then reached under it – towards those familiar fleshy petals that protected the fae’s womb.  If anyone unwanted came near that precious place, the petals could slice off any body part that tried to enter his body.  Many years ago, Vlad had been unnerved by this knowledge… but now, it gave him peace of mind, that no one but he would ever feel that sweet… hot…!_

_The petals parted for him.  Vlad sunk his soiled fingers into the fae – drenching them with new slick._

_Danny purred in contentment and pleasure, eyes slipping shut as he smelled his own thick scent fill the room and mix with Vlad’s own.  His legs spread a little wider, wings rustling as he leaned back in the air to present even more of himself to Vlad.  Thick, honey sweet slick ran down his thighs and plopped onto the carpet, spreading his scent even more._

_Two fingers, three… four…_

_“Ohhhhh… Anhn~!”_

_“I won’t be able to satisfy you all the way right now, we don’t have the time…” Vlad whispered apologetically, unzipping his pants.  He pulled out his own cock, stroking it up and placing it at the mouth of that warm, dripping flower.  “But I can do this…”_

_With a quiet, wet sound, Vlad slid in to the hilt with one fluid motion._

_Danny sighed with the impact, legs curling around Vlad’s waist as the man began to thrust into his open, dripping body, grinding upwards to slip his balls into him too.  Vlad was right to say that this wouldn’t be enough to get Danny off, but the fae did find it to be excellent foreplay, and he loved how much he smelled of Vlad after the fact._

_Unfortunately for the human, while Danny’s sexual organs did closely resemble that of a female’s, his was a much wider set, far slicker, and far deeper.  A male penis just wasn’t cut out to give Danny all the pleasure he needed to reach completion.  Typically Vlad would take his own pleasure like this before, or after, fisting the fae till he screamed._

_But like he said, he did not have the time, but that was all right with Danny.  Now, he would smell of Vlad and his sex, drip with his semen, just as Vlad would be coated in his own scent and slick, and no one would ever be aware._

_Besides, this would just make later tonight that much sweeter._

_Vlad sighed, eyes closed as his thrusts sped.  “You’re quiet, my beautiful monarch…” he whispered.  His voice broke into a groan as he reached his throes.  “Something on your mind…?”_

_Danny hummed, squeezing happily around his human’s cock – and accepting the seed that he squirted into him._

_“Mmmm… nothing special~”_

 

~*~

 

“If she had just given in, her pain wouldn’t be as terrible, I’m sure.”

Vlad laughed outright, stepping up behind the small fae.  “Oh, I doubt that~  You really did hate that woman.”

Danny paused in his cleaning, blinked, then giggled as he nodded his head in agreement.  “Oh, I suppose you got me there, my lovely~!”

The silver-haired man kissed the tip of Danny’s nose and looked over at Jazz, who hiccuped and twisted her face away from him in shame.  “Your father was easy to trick.  Despite everything she did against him, he was always in love with her,” Vlad said.  “THAT I could manipulate.  One nice little lie and he was handing me his only means of protection.”

 

~*~

 

_“JACK, LOOK OUT!”_

_Jack whirled to look._

_The shotgun went off.  KAPOW!_

_The fat man screamed as a hole opened up in his side; he fell to the floor, twitched once, and fell unconscious, blood pooling under him.  Vlad stood over him with a sneer.  “You’re even more of an idiot than I thought, and THAT is almost an IMPRESSIVE achievement!” he hissed, the shotgun’s barrel smoking in his grip.  “No wonder Maddie never loved you.”_

_“Mmm, but it does make things SO much easier~”_

_Vlad glanced up as Danny came crawling out of the deep part of the web, the fay affectionately patting the cocoon with one hand before making his way over to the humans.  Large wings fluttered once as Danny pulled himself up and floated closer.  “He went down like a sack of potatoes… You did well~”_

_He pressed himself to Vlad’s chest with a pleased smile, running his hands over his body and face and through his hair.  “You were always such a good actor~”_

_Vlad hummed with contentment, wrapping an arm around Danny’s waist.  “Thank you~” he purred.  “Didn’t you need him alive, though?  He seems to be bleeding a good bit.”_

_The fae huffed.  “Yes yes, I suppose I do…”_

_Danny pulled away from Vlad and made quick work of weaving up new silk, wrapping up Jack’s body tight and stopping the blood flow.  Before he covered the head, he leaned down and slid his pincers into the meat of the shoulder, tearing out a chuck to nibble on while injecting the venom that would slow down the man’s heart.  The process took a little longer then Maddie’s had, but Jack WAS a large human._

_Finally, the cocoon was placed safely with the other, waiting to be moved to their final resting place.  Danny sighed in contentment, licking Jack’s blood off his lips.  “Mmm… so close now, my love… I can feel it…”_

_He giggled, stretching his limbs while he glanced coyly back at Vlad.  “Almost as keenly as I can feel your seed sliding down my thighs~”_

_“You little tease…”_

_Vlad kissed Danny’s forehead and patted the fae’s hip.  “Go.  We’ll have our fun later.  When we no longer have to worry about your connection to this world.”_

_“Yes~”  Danny crooned, floating up to place a lingering kiss on his humans lip before floating back towards the cocooned sacrifices.  “Then, we will have all the time we want…”_

 

~*~

 

The silver-haired man sighed, stroking his fae lover’s cheek.  “This night has taken years of preparation… Hundreds and HUNDREDS of human lives.  However, we couldn’t be expected to do it all on our own.  So…”

Vlad smirked and patted Skulker on one rotting shoulder, uncaring of the rancid smell that would come off on his palm.  “We got a little help~” he told her.  “My love wasn’t lying to you about the issue with his summoning, though.  I practiced while he brought us our prey, summoning dark fae and… interviewing them, in a way.  Fascinating creatures, they are.  I studied them.  What is it you kids call it, ‘vlogging?’”

 

~*~

 

Valerie’s face was deadly pale as she watched none other than their host excitedly rant into the camera, on the vlog dated just yesterday.

 _“It’s time!  Everything’s ready~!”_  Vlad panted on the screen, a wild, crazed look in his eyes. _“Skulker brought us the last few souls a week ago, as the permanent foundation for the rift!  Danny says we shall have to end thirteen lives before midnight this time, to seal it all in place, but he has an idea on how to solidify the connection even further!_

_“According to him, if a virgin maiden collects all of the summoned fae’s elements of birth willingly, arranges them before the veil, and pledges herself to it, the ritual will be strengthened tenfold!  Ohhhh, we’ll just have to see whether chance gives us Samantha, Valerie, or Jasmine as our little heroine for the night–”_

The girl quickly pressed the arrow keys, trying to get away from the horrible truth, but it only skipped to the beginning!

A much younger Vlad snapped on a pair of operating gloves.  “It is… January 2nd, 1990, and I am about to conduct my first examination of our…”

He turned to the side.  

On the grainy screen, Spectra sat on the operating table, with no restraints, twitching and screeching quietly; she was pure black and grotesquely gnarled, a startling contrast with the pure white of the lab as Vlad walked cautiously over to her.  _“Our, um… friend here.  Now, could you please, ah… open that scar?”_

The tree monster acquiesced.  Her writhing, hooked vine of a tongue flopped out onto the floor.  The young Vlad jumped like he had been electrocuted.   _“OH SH–!  OKAY, it’s a mouth!  IT’S a mouth!  Th-This has been the first examination!”_

 

~*~

 

The silver-haired Vlad chuckled to himself, shaking his head.  “I admit, it was a bit jarring at first.  But I got used to the oddness.”

 

~*~

 

Valerie watched – transfixed, like watching a car crash in slow motion – as each “vlog” passed by.  Vlad aged as she watched, his dark silver hair leeched slowly of more color, what little innocence in his eyes fading a little bit more each time his face popped up.  

Two years after the first entry, the man was elbow deep in Spectra’s horrible mouth.  

“It seems human blood has restorative properties for this lovely lady,” the on screen Vlad snorted, pulling out his gloved hands.  The dark fae flapped her claws at him, like a woman dismissing a compliment. _“Hopefully she’ll get enough one day so we can see that beauty she’s always bragging about.”_

 _“Vlad, don’t you start flirting now~!”_  a bright, lilting voice cooed offscreen.

The man grinned, leaned down, and shut off the camera.

Valerie felt like she was going to be sick.  “I gotta get out of here…!” she rasped.  She didn’t even bother to stop the videos from playing as she struggled to stand, limping along the side of the desk.

 

~*~

 

Vlad stepped away from the altar and moved to one of the walls.  Protruding from the stone was a crudely constructed lever.  Wrapped both hands around it, he turned back to Danny, beaming.  “Ready, sweetling~?”

“Ready~!”

The man threw the lever, a loud rattling echoing through the room as oiled chains pulled back the metal ceiling above them.  A bit of gravel and dirt rained down on them from above, causing Jazz to blink and sputter past her tears.  She looked up blearily as red light filtered into the room.  The greenhouse… they were below the greenhouse!

She had not noticed before, but the glass ceiling was cut and shaped in an odd, triangular fashion, much like a pentagram, but with far too many sides.  The red light of the blood moon spilled in through the glass and onto her skin, filling her with the icy sensation of pins and needles.

Danny’s face filled her vision from above.  “Now my dear, thanks to your efforts, your family is going to be the final sacrifice needed to keep me here, whole, safe, and alive~  I wish I could say I’m sorry your life needs to end for this… but I’m not.”

He straightened, floated up above her head towards her father’s still form.  Though his body didn’t move – couldn’t move – she could still see Jack’s wide eyes flicking around frantically.  

Danny cupped his large chin, raising his knife. _“Oh, I am death, and none can tell,”_ he sang softly, grinning at the man.  _“If I open the door to heaven or hell~”_

“NO, DON’T-!”

“The blood of the father.”

_Shink._

The knife cut through the air in a clean, quick arc, cutting into the man’s throat and severing his windpipe.  His eyes rolled back as blood poured out of him, hot, heavy drops splatting over the altar and his screaming daughter.  

“DADDY!!  DADDY, NOOOO!”

 _“No wealth, no land, no silver, nor gold~!”_  Danny sang on, voice harsh.  _“Nothing satisfies me but your SOUL~!”_

The fae paid the screaming girl no mind, and all eyes were trained on him as he floated over to Maddie.  He sneered at her and her nude, ripped-up form, gripping her chin less gently than he did Jack’s.  Her eyes stared back at him defiantly, screaming in pain and rage.  

“The blood of the mother,” Danny hissed.

“MOMMY!!”

The knife tore into her neck from the side, the cut less clean and far more painful.  Her eyes flickered and grew dull, before rolling up in her death throes.  Her blood joined her husband’s.  

Danny floated back down to Jazz’s side, humming in tune with her harsh sobbing as he brushed a hand almost lovingly through her dirty hair.  Her sobs grew louder.

_“I am Death, I come to take the soul.  Leave the body and leave it cold…”_

He raised the knife high above his head.  “The blood of the virtuous maiden…”

The veil above them all was churning faster and faster, leaking into the air and tainting the very world around them.  Vlad left his place at the wall and came to stand behind Danny, body shaking in excitement as he wrapped his arms around his waist.  The other fae clasped hands around them, the circle complete.

 _“Oooh death…”_  Vlad crooned, voice deep and husky.  _“Oh death~”_

Danny’s voice echoed all around them, full of energy and power and malice.  _“Won’t you spare me over ‘til another year?!”_

And he plunged the knife deep into Jazz’s chest, right into her heart.

 

~*~

 

The world shook around Valerie.  She gasped and moaned in agony, quickly hobbling along the crumbling wall.  Finally, she burst into the foyer.

The mansion burned with blue fire, crackling across the ceiling as she collapsed to the floor.  Valerie screamed.  The chandelier fell and smashed across the floor; she screamed louder and ducked her head against the glass flying in every direction.  Behind her, the hall collapsed inward with roiling blue flames.  The girl dragged herself forward… broken glass and crystal slicing into her hands… towards the door.  She was SO CLOSE–!

 

~*~

 

Blood welled up around Jazz’s breast…

Her screams and sobs grew louder, eyes rolling back in her skull.  Danny suddenly gasped, throwing his head back; the young maiden’s blood seeped in with the others, blooming white wherever it struck, filling him with the power of existence.  He could feel those eternal strings – always pulling at him to return to the veil – shudder, weakening.  

The altar bled radiant alabaster.  Jazz tried to make one final noise… and failed.

Her body went limp.

Power crashed into Danny like a wrecking ball, breaking his puppet strings and freeing him from the grip of the veil.  Vlad and the other fae shielded their eyes from the blinding display.  The monarch shrieked, but not in pain… his wings fluttering and growing bright, BRIGHT…!

All at once, there was a gristling snap in reality.

And slowly… like the afterglow of an orgasm… the glow softly faded…

Danny actually stumbled and fell back from the altar, the knife falling from his loose fingers and skittering across the floor.  He swayed, head tilted back and mouth open as he shuddered… shook…

“So…”  the fae breathed, voice barely above a whisper.  “This… is what freedom tastes like…”

He gasped and closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of all his power returning to him at once, the power he had had to leave behind when he left the Underground.  Above their heads, the veil buckled and twisted, rippling almost grotesquely before holding still…

The veil had been fed.  It would hold.  And Danny was free.

“Skulker.”

The hulking creature startled, looking down from the veil and back towards the small fae.  

Danny raised a hand towards Jack’s dangling body.  “His face is yours.”

Skulker eagerly moved forward, a fine scalpel appearing in his hand.  “Desiree!”  Danny called, smiling fondly at the waterlogged fae as he stepped towards Maddie’s body.  “I promised you new legs, did I not~?”

A smile broke out on the creature’s lips, her arms dragging her forward so she could catch the body as he released it from its cocoon.  She wasted no time in snapping Maddie’s spine, carefully ripping the top half of the body from the legs she coveted so much.  

Ember floated over then, looking down at Danny almost pleadingly.  He laughed, moving back towards Jazz’s body.  “Don’t worry, Ember, I remembered!”  

He grasped the dead girl’s hair and forced her head back, stretching out the neck. “ I found her voice quite pleasing when she wasn’t whining.  Her voice is yours.”

A silent squeal left the fire fae, before she dived down and buried her teeth into the unmarked throat, working to tear out the entire voice box and swallow it as Danny patted one of her wings fondly.

Finally, Danny turned to Spectra.  “The rest of their bodies are yours,” he said kindly, smiling.  “By consuming their magically charged bodies, you will regain your full beauty and youth once more.”

The old fae smiled and nodded in thanks, moving towards Jack’s now abandoned body, the head gone.  

Danny sighed in contentment, head rolling back in pleasure.

“It’s over… it’s finally  _over_ …”

Vlad stepped over the fresh, scintillating blood, and took the young fae’s hands, kissing his fingertips.  “How do you feel?” he murmured.

“Whole,” Danny replied, leaning into Vlad’s embrace.  

He turned in Vlad’s arms, floating up so he could place a kiss on the man’s lips.  “I had not realized how much I was stretching myself thin all these years.  But now… I finally have the power I need to complete the most important ritual of all…”

The man frowned, confused.  “Wait… what ritual?” he asked.  “I thought this was all of it?”

Danny giggled and took Vlad’s hand, leading him away from the altar.  The other fae watched knowingly, traded amused looks, and returned to their tasks. 

The young monarch fae stopped before the tower of bodies on the other side of the room.  Unknowingly to Vlad, this pile was held together not only by its own decomposing juices, but also by Danny’s own magic and strings of silk.  He had been building this for years, and now… it was time.

“Vladimir,” the young fae said, turning to the man.  “Humans do not live very long.  Already, half of your life is gone, and I still have a very long one ahead of me.  I do not wish to watch you grow old, become fragile, and die.  I refuse.”

He looked back at the construct of bodies.  “It took me years to perfect this ritual, but with Spectra and Desiree’s help, I know for sure it will work.  It’s old, black magic, and was impossible without my full power, but now…”

Danny’s eyes met Vlad’s, glowing with love.  “Now… I can make you one of my kind…”

Vlad’s breath caught in his throat.  

“…Show me…” he whispered softly.

 

~*~

 

Valerie pulled herself free of the burning wreckage, crying as she crawled down the bloodstained front steps, and out into the yard.

 

~*~

 

The silver-haired billionaire stripped naked.  Ember, Skulker, Desiree, and Spectra all kept their distance, admiring themselves and complementing one another in their subsonic voices, as Vlad stepped forward – into a soggy, cold nook in the mountain of corpses, that Danny had opened for him.

Vlad took a deep breath… almost relishing the last ripe, stink of death, of success…

He folded his arms, and allowed himself to be buried under the slimy decay.   Danny moved quickly, using all six of his hands to bury Vlad beneath a thick layer of blood and flesh and bone.  

He stopped just when he reached Vlad’s head, diving forward for a deep, heart wrenching kiss… and finally drew back, blue eyes lidded.  “See you on the other side, my lovely…”

And then he pulled back, and finished burying Vlad alive.  The moment his task was done, Danny quickly began to spin his thread, flying up to blanket it over the pile.  He whispered to himself as he did this, words in an old, dark language that would make no sense to human ears.  The other fae grew quiet, turning to watch in respectable silence as Danny weaved his magic.

Before long, the pile was hidden beneath his threads and he squeezed, tightening the mound of flesh around his cocooned lover.  It squished and oozed, bones popping and snapping with the pressure.  He whispered a few more words, then released the towering construct.

He took a step back, drawing in a deep breath…

 _“Athraithe…”_  Danny spoke, the words echoing all around them and even penetrating to Vlad’s mind, deep with his tight confines.  Inside the cocoon, Vlad twisted in pain, gritting his teeth.

_“Athrú, agus a dhéanamh nua, a rugadh arís.  Ardú, agus sracadh amach do chraiceann mortal.  Ardú, agus a bheith mianach!” *_

A muffled scream sounded from the constructed pile.  “DANNY–?!”

Gristling snapping, the popping of bones, met the young fae’s ears.  “AHH!!”

For the first time in Danny’s existence, he felt fear.  “Vlad…?”

He reached forward, half a mind to rip Vlad free of whatever was causing him such pain.  But a hand stopped him, supple and soft and pink.  He turned, looking up into Spectra’s green eyes.  He whimpered fearfully, allowing the older fae to wrap her arms around him.

“Shh shh shh…”  she breathed, voice deep and quaking like an old oak tree, the scent of flora and fauna seeping into his nose and calming him.  “You knew this would happen.  Remain calm, all is well.”

Danny nodded, not even noticing as the other fae came to join them, too focused on the cocoon.

The scream built up, louder and louder–!

 

~*~

 

Valerie dragged herself down the long, long driveway, and finally, at long last, she reached the road.  With a gasp of agony, she collapsed against the wall of the Masters property, sobbing…

 

~*~

 

Inside his cocoon, Vlad screamed in agony.  

He trusted Danny.  He thought he’d known what he was stepping into…

But it felt like he was suffering every fate he had helped to inflict.  His skin crawled, bubbles of fire roiling under his skin and setting his body ablaze, purging every bit of filth from his body and into the mountain of dead, bleaching his flesh the color of new snow.  He screamed for help.  Skin shredded.  His sides split open, nubs of new bone branching out from his spine.  The very mortality was wrenched from every pore, every hair, every fiber of his being… the corpses absorbing it up, like a sponge, and keeping it captive.  Silver hair went pure white.  Red and blue veins went black under his new flesh, back to red, and then disappeared altogether.

As the fae watched, the pile of corpses began to shake apart.  Rot fell from the top, splattering to the floor – newly red and pulsing, like it was just wrenched from the body.

The jaws of skeletons opened, unleashing an unearthly howl towards the skies and blending with Vlad’s own cries…!

All at once, they all fell silent.

And Danny heard it, when Vlad’s heart stopped.

All four fae had to quickly move to hold Danny back from tearing the cocoon apart.  Danny had known what to expect, what would happen, what Vlad would have to go through and endure to become one of them.

But that heartbeat… he had been hearing it for nearly over forty years, and suddenly hearing it stop…

A silent wail left his lips, fearing the ultimate worst.  His wings fluttered wildly, batting at the air with all his might in an attempt to break free.  But the older fae held him close, wincing as his power tried to fight back, their powerful little monarch screeching at them to be set free.  

But then, they all froze as the cocoon shuddered…

Skulker stepped in front of them all, just as it burst.

SPLAT!

Danny and the females cringed… then blinked and looked up.  The big monster shook red slime off of Jack’s face, spitting.  He looked rather upset until Ember cooed and flew up to his level, burning the muck and brushing off the ashes.  “Oh, you…” she hummed, smiling down at him.  Skulker perked up.

Meanwhile, behind them… Danny heard the slow flutter of soft, massive wings. 

He slowly peeked out around the new pair, frowning as he couldn’t see anything past Skulkers form.  He pulled out of Spectra’s arms and stepped forward, his own wings fluttering restlessly.  Finally, Skulker stepped aside, and Danny was presented with a view of what was once Vladimir Masters’s cocoon.

He froze, large eyes growing even larger.

Huge, royal blue wings moved through the air, veined in shadow and reversed by the shining, iridescent rainbows of a glowing beetle’s shell.  Three pairs of scarlet eyes slowly opened – two of them on his wings, blinking wetly, looking around the sacrificial room independently from one another – their pupils rounded, and sideways like a devil’s.  He did not have six arms like Danny, but four powerful limbs that could easily hurl even Skulker across the grounds.  Four, long-fingered, taloned hands.  His skin and long, floating hair were completely bleached of color… leaving him just as pale, if not paler, than his mate, glowing in the moonlight…

Vlad opened his softly glowing blood red eyes.

He blinked, almost as if he was confused, and lowered his head.  After a second, he placed one of his four new hands on the gore that still clung to his lower half; his wings fluttered and shivered, shaking off the slime and pulsing with new life as he pulled himself free.

It had been a long time since Danny had been around a fellow monarch fae, they were so rare nowadays.  It had been even longer since he had been around a peacock.  He himself was a small, slender hen monarch, with many arms and wings for child care and protection.  A peacock had equally large wings, but they seemed so much bigger due to how big their entire BODIES were.  With less arms, but more muscle, made for protecting and providing, a peacock tended to be twice, if not three times as big as an average hen.

And Vladimir definitely lived up to that statistic.

Danny’s cheeks flushed pearly pink, hands clasped to his chest and wings fluttering softly, almost shyly.  The other fae could sense that his natural scent was beginning to get stronger now that he was in a peacock monarch’s presence.  They slowly backed away, not wanting to be in Vlad’s way.

Vlad raised his head again, sniffing the air… then, all six scarlet eyes zeroed in on Danny.

The fae’s plump lips fell open in a tiny, silent gasp, wings absolutely trembling.

Blue wings snapped wide.  The black silk pods at the base of Vlad’s radiant wings opened wide, shooting ropes of sparkling, dark web out at the walls.  Danny sucked in another small breath – assaulted by the pheromones that rolled off of the black silk.  Vlad opened his wings as he walked forward, fluttering them to show off their radiant colors to the hen monarch; the smaller fae could barely move, unable to do anything but gaze up in wonder at his glory.  The peacock moved in… wrapping all four arms around Danny…

 _“For you are death…”_ Vlad sung, in a low, husky voice.

He stroked his lover’s cheek, smiling.   _“And none can tell…?”_

Danny swallowed, panting softly, the soft song pulled out of him.   _“If I open the door…”_

_“To Heaven or Hell…”_

Vlad’s deep voice finished it, as black web spun around them in a rough sphere, the foundations of their first nest.  The other fae silently left their new nesting grounds.  Outside, the manor had finished burning, and lay in silent, blackened ruins.

The moon reached its peak, at the stroke of midnight.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Valerie paused for breath, the same way she had ten seconds before.

Her body was shutting down, she knew it now.  Her vision had been growing dimmer, and dimmer, the pain fading from her limbs until it was a barely noticeable throb, even in her leg.  Her fingers tingled faintly with pins and needles.  Blood dripped from her lips.  Her brain was bleeding, she could tell… and all her energy to go on had left her.

With the last of her strength, the girl looked up at the sky.

Wind whispered secrets through the cattails and the fluttering ribbons of willow branches, carrying the black smell of the nearby marsh.  Willow trees, small and young, bowed over the road, branches trailing like the faint memory of her mother’s fingers…  

Soft and lingering, but smelling like death…

Valerie let go, fell to her knees, and willingly took her last breath.

The wind flowed over the motionless corpse on the side of the road.  An hour passed before she would have heard the sound of fluttering wings, coming ever closer.  Hands – pale as death – pulled Valerie from the dust.

But at least the stars were beautiful, on the night it all came to an end.

**_BAD END~?_ **

 

_*Translations: “Change.”  “Change, and be made new, born again.  Rise, and rip off your mortal flesh.  Rise, and be mine!”_


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SMUT BONUS CHAPTER, FAE SEX IS A LITTLE UNNATURAL, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

_Danny’s cheeks flushed pearly pink, hands clasped to his chest and wings fluttering softly, almost shyly.  The other fae could sense that his natural scent was beginning to get stronger now that he was in a peacock monarch’s presence.  They slowly backed away, not wanting to be in Vlad’s way._

_Vlad raised his head again, sniffing the air… then, all six scarlet eyes zeroed in on Danny._

_The fae’s plump lips fell open in a tiny, silent gasp, wings absolutely trembling._

_Blue wings snapped wide.  The black silk pods at the base of Vlad’s radiant wings opened wide, shooting ropes of sparkling, dark web out at the walls.  Danny sucked in another small breath – assaulted by the pheromones that rolled off of the black silk.  Vlad opened his wings as he walked forward, fluttering them to show off their radiant colors to the hen monarch; the smaller fae could barely move, unable to do anything but gaze up in wonder at his glory.  The peacock moved in… wrapping all four arms around Danny…_

_“For you are death…” Vlad sung, in a low, husky voice._

_He stroked his lover’s cheek, smiling.  “And none can tell…?”_

_Danny swallowed, panting softly, the soft song pulled out of him.  “If I open the door…”_

_“To Heaven or Hell…”_

_Vlad’s deep voice finished it, as black web spun around them in a rough sphere, the foundations of their first nest.  The other fae silently left their new nesting grounds.  Outside, the manor had finished burning, and lay in silent, blackened ruins._

_The moon reached its peak, at the stroke of midnight._

 

~*~*~*~

 

Inside the nest, Danny had pulled away from Vlad’s arms in a near desperate motion, trying so hard to clear his head of the peacock’s pheromones.  His wings were vibrating at his back, pods instinctively open and shooting out soft silver threads.  This was Danny’s nesting silk, thick with his own mating pheromones and as soft as down to the touch.  It made up the inner walls and soft bedding of the nest, the silky threads rubbing up against the fae’s sensitive skin and heightening both of their pleasure.

And right now, that thread was starting to mix with Vlad’s own inky black silk, and moved to wrap around each of Danny’s arms, carressing him softly.  Both fae’s wings were fluttering madly, unknowingly spinning that thread tighter and tighter…

“Mmnnn… Oooh~!!”

Danny squirmed and whined pitifully, so unaccustomed to not being in control of a situation – let alone his own body – and to being reduced to a vulnerable, whimpering mess with just a glance, just a touch…  He knew that a peacock monarch was powerful, he knew that he would be susceptible to Vlad in this form, that he would become a true hen once mated to the right peacock.

But he had not realized what it would  _feel_  like, how it would cloud his mind and judgement, trigger his need to breed and breed until that was all he was, the perfect little breeding hen, all stuffed full and pregnant…

Oh… Oh, that was a nice thought…

He whined again as he felt his lower petals grow swollen and open, outright  _throb_  as they began to drip, obscenely wet and begging for attention.  The sound he released was loud and high pitched, echoing around the nest as his body literally opened up for Vlad and  _begged_.  

“V-V-Vlad!”

Vlad hummed – a sound deep and dark and at a frequency that could rattle human eyes like maracas, but it thrummed through Danny, vibrating that small, ivory body from his very marrow.   His scintillating wings fluttered at the new smells that met his nose, the strange new colors that he could see… the perspective of the eyes on his wings…

“I’ve never seen you like this before…”

His voice sounded deeper and silkier than it had when he was human.  Vlad’s wings fluttered, pleased by his own voice, so he spoke again.  “I knew you were beautiful before, but now…” he breathed, taking a small, weightless hop closer to his mate.  “Look at you…”

The young hen whined, a mewling sound that cooed from the back of his throat and sent Vlad’s instincts reeling.  Protect, provide, care for, feed, breed…  _possess_ …

Danny took another shy little shuffle back, now standing in the heart of the nest.  His skin was beginning to flush the faintest of pinks and Vlad could even see how his legs were rubbing against each other as the young fae squirmed.  His sex had grown so swollen and irritated and wet, that it was becoming unbearable and he couldn’t even seem to stand still anymore!  He was drenched now, slick practically gushing down his legs…

“Oh… o-oh Vlad…”  Danny whimpered, big blue eyes taking in the large fae his lover had become, too overwhelmed for words.

Neither of them noticed how big the nest was growing, neither of them noticed they were still spilling silks saturated with their scent… and neither of them noticed how much more of that silk was wrapping around Danny’s limbs…

Vlad breathed in… and out… reached down between his legs, to feel at the new organ he could feel growing heavy, weighing down his pelvis.

What he found, actually made him look again.

The sharp, translucent stingers that covered his genitals parted willingly, like they had a mind of their own – and in Vlad’s grasp was a tapered organ that he could feel pulsing under its textured, leathery foreskin, like a sheath.  He could feel its rising temperature through the thick skin, but he couldn’t help but marvel over how HARD it felt.  Compared to the consistency of toughened silicone that his old cock had, this he could almost compare to the rubber grip of a baseball bat… with the foreskin pulled back, it was easily six inches in girth and over a foot long…

Vlad hesitated, even through the haze of his instincts, and looked up at Danny.  “My love… this…?”

Danny had to actually bite his tongue and draw blood in order to calm down.  Oh gods, he just wanted to spread his legs and beg…

“I… I told you once, l-long ago that our reproductive organs were…  _different_ , from human ones,”  Danny began to explain, ignoring the fact that he was actually beginning to make a puddle of his own slick at his feet.  “That… that is your sheath, m-my love.  It acts as not only protection for your sex, it also… also houses…”

He gulped then, cheeks flushing more as he held both hands up and made a cupping motion.  Vlad blinked in confusion, but after a moment he slowly reached back under the sheath, and felt the area where his balls once were.  In their place was simply a rounded extension of the sheath, large and heavy and swollen.  The sheath covered his scrotum, it seemed, but his scrotum was so large that it actually _bulged_ …

Danny had to look away as Vlad continued to explore himself, but kept talking.  He hoped to both teach Vlad, and also distract himself with the impromptu lesson.  “When a hen is in throes, a peacock can penetrate them with their sheath.  The slick of the petals aids in the stretch and my… the teeth…  The teeth grip onto the sheath like an anchor…”

He squirmed, forcing himself to look around the new nest and not towards his mate, or else he might just lose his mind.  “Then, the… a peacock’s sex will unsheath inside the hen, reaching deeper and deeper, so long and thick, it can reach the womb… h-here.”

Danny touched his chest, near where a human heart might be located.  “The sheath keeps you stationary, you won’t need to thrust with your hips like you did as a human… instead… you can control your organ i-itself, making it thrust… expand… t-twist…  ah, I… I think you get the… ah…”

There was a moment of silence…

Then, Vlad’s eyes wandered back over to his hen, focusing on the small puddle under Danny.  The little hen didn’t notice his focus shift, too keen on distracting himself even as his body began to enter mating throes.  He studied their nest, marveling at the size; it was a sign of a peacock’s virility.  He also studied the silks running up his arms, blinking in wonder as to why they were going so thick and tight around his wrists.  He had never mated properly before, so this confused him…

Danny whimpered as his body throbbed, rocking on his feet and trying so hard not to squirm or reach down and touch himself.  He was so wet…!

Vlad gave himself an experimental stroke.  He didn’t feel anything in particular… but he felt the organ inside growing warmer and warmer…

Abruptly, his wings whipped wide.

The silk around Danny’s wrists twisted, pulling tight.  The young fae cried out, wings fluttering madly as Vlad came close – taking hold of Danny’s hips and easily holding them up with one deathly pale hand.  

Danny’s arms were pulled tight away from his body; one set above his head, another not too far behind, and the third spread out to the sides.  His chest heaved in both confusion and heated arousal.  Such power… he couldn’t break free!  He could hardly  _struggle!_

Oh… oh his lovely was so strong and powerful now…

Vlad looked at his long talons.  It took him a moment to retract them…

Then, he gently lay a fingertip on Danny’s sex, giving those rippling petals a light stroke.

“A-AHhnn!”  the little fae cried out, whimpered as his stingers parted widely and revealed his sex to the other fae.  The petals of his sex, not unlike a woman’s own outer vaginal lips, were swollen nearly red with blood and absolutely dripping with slick.  The hen’s thighs and legs were soaked, creating a fragrant mess on the nest floor.  Danny whined as the lips opened so easily under Vlad’s fingers, swollen and plump and his entrance just gapping.

“Oh… ooooh, V-Vlad… AHHNnnn~!”

Another gush of warm slick practically spouted out of him, plopping onto their nest’s floor.

Vlad purred, deep in his chest, and grabbed Danny’s hips with one set of hands, holding him tightly.  His other pair of hands wandered up the young fae’s stomach, and chest… wrapping gently around his throat and raising his jaw.  Glazed blue eyes stared into scarlet.

“I’ve always wished I could do this…” Vlad whispered.  “Pleasure you, as you were meant to be.  It bothered me for a long time… that I just wasn’t… equipped…”

His crimson eyes flicked down between them.  

His leathery sheath twitched and pulsed with veins as he slowly, gently, began to push it inside Danny.

“My beautiful D’Any’Domhnulla…”

“Ah ah ah AH AH AHHHHNNNNnnnnnn!!”

Blue eyes blew wide and Danny’s head fell back, mouth opening with a high pitched wail that would have had a normal human’s ears bleeding.  His legs spread apart and his hips twitched as, to Vlad’s surprise, the petals and lips of his sex actually sucked and  _swallowed_ , drawing him in deeper like a desperate, hungry little mouth.

Slick gushed and squelched out around his thick girth, Danny squealing and keening as his sex was stretched, stretched wider than ever before.  Finally the little hen’s legs met Vlad’s waist, wrapping around his thick body as best they could.  Vlad felt his scrotum press almost teasingly to Danny’s outer, wet lips, his sheath fully… well, sheathed.

And that’s when he felt Danny actually hiccup with surprise, back arching as those teeth snapped closed, biting down on the tough leathery flesh between his folds.

Vlad jumped involuntarily at the sensation of those razor teeth snapping down – but when their points dug into his skin, a soft gasp escaped him, eyes falling shut.  “Ohh…” he breathed.  His wings vibrated in the air, churning up a gentle breeze within their nest.  “Danny… OH…”

The hot, hard organ was… loosening… pushing upward, forcing more petals and valves and tingling, textured membranes to flex and move aside…

“Oh!!  Oh, my l-lovely, oh!  S-slow… slowly n-now, c-c-control it, OOOH~!!”

Vlad had never been this deep before, no where near this deep, and it was still only half of how deep Danny’s channel really was.  But this area was untouched, tight and sticky with a young, breedable hen’s slick and uncut membranes.  A sharp gasp left him every time Vlad punched a little bit further, the faes large cock breaking through the once untouched sex.

Unimaginable pleasure mixed with the pain and sent Danny reeling, mouth open in silent little gasps and screams as Vlad pressed deeper and deeper.  Soon he would have Danny completely open for him, soon his entire organ would be free and ready, soon he would wreck and own this little hen like no one had, claiming him as his own breeding hen and no one else’s, never again…

Soon, he would reach the very core of Danny’s body and locate his womb, breaking through the final membrane keeping the most potent and fertile of slick inside his body…

The humming, tapered bloodred tip of Vlad’s cock entered the hen’s womb.  

The peacock moaned, going to thrust out of reflex, only to stop when Danny’s body was pulled after him – still holding fast to the base of his foreskin.  “A-Ah!” the small fae gasped, back arching.

“I-I’m sorry…” Vlad panted, running his hands through his mate’s dark hair.  “I forgot…”

Danny panted, pressing his cheek into Vlad’s palm blindly.  “You… y-y-you c-control it… It… hah… Oh, I d-don’t know how t-to explain!  I’m n-not a peacock, I… Mnnn~!”

He gasped, lips swollen and shiny with drool as he tried to swallow past the glorious burn of that hot, hot organ.  “You c-can control it… y-y-you… oh…!”

Vlad struggled to catch his breath, trying to calm down, to let go of everything he learned as a human.  The human rules didn’t apply here…

He breathed out slowly… and traced a hand down over Danny’s chest.  He could feel his own heat there, twitching… oh gods, he almost didn’t want to open his eyes to see how far that extended…

/Move…/ Vlad thought.  

It was almost a prayer as he rolled his hips.  “ _Move_ …”

Slow as a glacier – a gentle roll started in the muscles at the base of it all.  It swelled, flexing, getting larger as it got closer to the womb; Vlad gasped quietly at the strange new ecstasy, and did it again.

“Oh… Oh!  Th-that’s it… that’s it!”  Danny gasped, petals suckling at Vlad’s sheath as a fresh gush of slick slid out.  The movement was so slow though, a downright tease of Danny’s insides that made him want to spread his legs wider and arch his back and plead for for more.

“Th-that’s it… c-c-control it, it’s p-part of you… D-don’t you want to c-c-claim me?  T-take me apart like y-you couldn’t b-b-before?”

Danny’s head fell back once more and his entire body trembled, practically vibrating in Vlad’s hands from the tips of his wings to his toes.  The muscles in his thighs twitched and for the first time he was thankful to the silk holding him still.  If he had had room to move, he might have struggled, tried to pull away on reflex, or simply squirmed on Vlad’s cock until the large fae just wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Danny swallowed, chest heaving as he tried to find his breath, his voice hushed and heavy with want and desire, desperate lust and need ruling his body like Vlad had never seen.

“D-don’t… you w-want to m-make me s-s-scream…?”  

A powerful ripple sent Danny’s spine curving back.  “AHHH!”

Vlad groaned, pressure building in his skull at the tsunami of strange sensations that shot through his body.  “Oh GODS, yes…” he gasped.  His muscular cock pulsed, the crimson head curling and twisting inside Danny’s chest; tags of nerves and soft, hot glands spasmed when he slid back on the warm, tingling slick.  “I want to make you mine…!  Mine alone, mine forever… because you WANT me…”

“O-OH!”  Danny cried, his entire body vibrating now as Vlad began to figure his body out.  “OH!  Oooooh V-V-Vlaaaad~!! AHNNnn~!!”

He wailed as his womb throbbed in reply, heat filling his chest and spreading through him.  The entrance of his womb pulsed and opened wider, welcoming more of Vlad’s sex inside as it released Danny’s fertile fluid.  It was hot and tingling, heightening Vlad’s own pleasure and sensitivity as it spilled around his cock.

Now the womb was empty.  But it wouldn’t be for long…

Vlad gasped, sealing his mouth over Danny’s to swallow his cries.  He turned his head, kissing him hard as his scrotum clenched; he wrapped his long arms around his slender waist, pulling him fast to his body–!

The head of his cock trembled, and suddenly, soft, flexible barbs latched into Danny’s velvet walls.

The young fae threw his head back, eyes sightless and wide, as Vlad let out a harsh, vibrating hiss, and came inside him.  There was nowhere for that thick, inky black seed to go but inside, filling him up.  

The large fae’s sex pulsed as it pumped, throbbing inside of Danny like a living thing, driving him nearly wild as his body suddenly moved on autopilot.  

Before Vlad could react, Danny’s insides tightened around him and spasmed, a rhythmic suckling motion that acted much like a throat swallowing him down might.  The sensation made Vlad cry out, trembling as he just kept cumming.  The teeth of Danny’s sex suddenly released during a strong pull, and before Vlad knew it his own scrotum was being sucked inside that wet heat, punching in and stretching the hen to the point of no return.  

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!”_

Danny screamed, teeth snapping down at the very base of Vlad’s shaft and forcing the fae to plug him full and finally, reshaping Danny’s insides for his cock, and his cock alone.  The hen’s body shook and spasmed like it had been electrocuted, the poor thing’s orgasm almost violent as his womb began to stretch and grow, heavy with Vlad’s seed and still swelling.  Vlad pinned his mate down, trying to keep him from hurting himself, until they both rode out their final mating throes… and sunk down to the bottom of the nest.  The silks holding Danny aloft broke free easily, their hormonal release weakening it like damp tissue paper.

The peacock breathed heavily, collecting his limp little hen in his arms and nuzzling him.  He could still feel warm pulses of his come shooting into Danny.  “Are you alright…?” he whispered.

The little fae whimpered but nodded, burying his face in Vlad’s collarbone as his limp arms wrapped around him.  His whole body was weak and limp, even his wings which hung almost uselessly at his back.  But even so, he was shivering violently, like he couldn’t help it.  

After a moment, a single hand breaking away from the others to lay across his chest.  It was swollen just slightly, puffed up just at the top of his stomach region.

“My lovely…”  he whispered, voice thick with emotion.  “… I’m pregnant…”

Vlad chuckled softly, tiredly stroking Danny’s hair away from his face and kissing his forehead softly.  “Now, how could you know that…?”

“I just know…”  he whispered back tiredly, moaning softly as a faint aftershock sent pleasure through his swollen and stuffed sex.  He sighed, placing kisses over Vlad’s chest, wherever he could reach.  “Instinct… When you finally soften and are able to pull out of me, my womb will shift.  It will close up, keeping your seed safe and warm until the larvae form.  By tomorrow, our clutch will be released from the womb and shift into the larger birth chamber.  They will grow and grow, until they harden into chrysalis-like eggs…”

Blue eyes blinked up at Vlad, warm and so wide with excitement.  “In a few weeks, maybe a month, I will lay them in a new nest, wrap them up warm and safe in our silks… until finally they emerge… our little ones…”

He rubbed at his chest, smiling softly.  “A big family to finally call my own…”

Vlad raised his brows lightly down at Danny during his long explanation, then chuckled softly and gently ran his fingertips over his pearly pink wings.  “They must have incredible sex ed on the other side of the veil~” he joked softly.  When Danny slapped his chest lightly, Vlad laughed and squeezed him playfully.  “I’m just kidding… I’m happy.  I truly am…”

“Well, I should hope so!”  Danny chided playfully.  “You are going to be a powerful chief monarch soon.  With all the babies I’m sure we will be having over the many, many,  _many_ years of our life, we will build ourselves a  _very_  large clan~”

The hen gasped as he felt the peacock’s sex organ twitch, throbbing slightly inside him in almost a teasing manner.  “Ooohhh, you like that idea I see~”

He calmed back down and purred, nuzzling his new mate sleepily.  “As for the sex ed comment, no, there was no one to really explain this to me except for my family.”

“You mean Spectra?”

“Hmm?  Oh, yes, I suppose she told me the details, but no,”  Danny replied, yawning widely.  “I was taught about mating by my older brother.”

“Oh.  Right…”

Vlad sighed, resigned.  “Can’t wait to meet D’Anhnulla…” he muttered.

“Oh, I didn’t make him sound THAT bad, did I?”  Danny murmured, showering Vlad’s neck and chest with lazy kisses.  “He really isn’t that bad~  Sure, he’s going to be pretty pissed that I disappeared for over forty years, but I know he’ll like you~”

“Do you know how terrified I was of accidentally summoning him instead of Skulker?  Extremely…” the peacock pouted.

“Ooohhh, I would NEVER let him hurt my precious lovely~”  Danny cooed, kisses growing bolder as he undulated his body against Vlad’s.  “And now, you don’t even need to worry!  You are just as powerful as he is now, if not more so!  Besides…”

Sharp little fae teeth dug into Vlad’s white skin, nibbling at the collar bone.  “He would NEVER raise a hand to you while I’m full of your young~  You’re family now, and he will be happy that the clan is expanding.  Oh yes, expanding soooo much~”

Vlad nibbled at Danny’s shoulder.  “You quit that~” he teased.

Danny laughed breathlessly, squirming all the more as he bit Vlad playfully.  “Nyuuuuu, I don’t wanna~”

“I’m gonna have to make you, won’t I~?”

“Oh, yes~”  Danny purred, blue eyes alight with mischief.  “Absolutely~”

The two fae rolled over, giggles dissolving into moans as the peacock began to roll his hips again.  Outside their nest, the stars moved slowly over the ruins of Vladimir Master’s manor… the universe moving in respectful silence of the lives lost that night… but not in regret.  For the lives they had been traded for had far more weight to beings of the veil…

Little did they know, more were not far behind.


End file.
